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 28
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" Henry Mattice and Adam Brown, both Tories, accompanied the enemy from Breaka- been of their own accord.
" The 10th day of August, 1780, was one of sadness and mourning for the citizens of Vro- mansland, some of whom had lost near rela- tives among the slain, and all among the cap- tives, either relatives or valued friends ; while the destruction of property to individuals was a loss, especially at that season of the year when too late to grow sustenance for their families, to be most keenly felt and deplored.
" The burial of the dead took place the day after their massacre, on the farm of John Feek, near the fort, where their ashes now lie in neg- lected graves. The bodies of Captain Vroman, wife and son, were deposited in one grave, and that of Mrs. Ephraim Vroman and her daughter, in another. The remains of the former body presented a most horrid appearance. Left by her murderers between the burning buildings, her flesh was partly consumed, exposing her entrails.
"When the dead body of Mrs. Ephraim Vroman was first discovered in the cornfield, it was evident that she had partially recovered, and had vainly endeavored to staunch the flow ing blood from the wound in her breast, first with her cap or some portion of her dress, and afterwards with earth, having dug quite a hole in the ground.
" The destroyers of Vromansland proceeded on the afternoon of the same day about fifteen miles, and encamped for the night. The scalps of the slain were stretched upon hoops and dried in the presence of the relative prisoners, the oldest of whom were bound nights. As the party proceeded along the east bank of the Schoharie, in the afternoon of the first day,
after journeying some six miles, Brant permitted the wife of John Vroman with her one infant, and that taken with Ephraim Vroman, to return back to the settlement. On the morning after the massacre the line of march was again re- sumed, and when about half way from the Patchin place to Harpersfield, Brant yielded to the repeated importunities of several of his fe- male captives, and perhaps to the seasonable interference of several Tory friends living near, and permitted all of them, except Mrs. Simon Vroman with several male children-nearly one half of the whole number of prisoners, to return to Schoharie. Brant led the liberated captives aside nearly half a mile to a place of conceal- ment, where he required them to remain until night. The female prisoners, when captured, were plundered of their bonnets, neckerchiefs, beads, earrings, etc., which articles, of course, they did not recover. Word having been sent to Schoharie that those prisoners had been lib- erated, Major Thomas Eckerson, Lieutenant Harper, and Schoharie John, a friendly Indian, who lived at Middleburgh during the war, met them not far from where Mrs. Vroman had been left the preceding afternoon, with several horses, and placing three persons on a horse, they con- veyed them to the upper fort where they arrived just at dusk." * * * *
The greater part of the Schoharie prisoners were taken to Niagara, where they remained until November, when they proceeded in a ves- sel down Lake Ontario.
" The prisoners were conveyed down the St. Lawrence in bateaux, and some of them suf- fered much for the want of suitable clothing, being barefooted, although the ground was cov- ered with snow where they encamped on shore over night. They arrived at Montreal about the first of December, from which place, after a few weeks stay, they were removed nine miles farther, to an old French post, called South Rakela, where they were confined until the summer following, and then exchanged for other prisoners. While confined at the latter place, their provisions consisted, for the most part, of salt beef and oatmeal, the latter being boiled into puddings and eaten with molasses. When an exchange was effected, most of the Scho-
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TOWN OF FULTON.
harie prisoners, with others, were sent on board a vessel at the head of Lake Champlain, where they were landed, and from which place they returned home on foot via Saratoga. They arrived at Schoharie on the 30th of August, af- ter an absence of a little more than a year. Mrs. Hager was gone about eighteen months."
While the date of the foregoing massacre does not agree, as given by Simms, with that of Crys- ler, yet it must have been the same. Both agree upon the number of scalps taken (as ex- pressed by Crysler,) but not in number of pris- . oners. We learn through the family of Ephraim Vroman, that the party, instead of going from Harpersfield, direct to the Susquehanna, pro- ceeded from the former place to Cherry Valley, and while there, Vroman asked the privilege of the officer, by whom he was held, to write a let- ter to his friends in Schoharie, about some busi- ness of importance. The officer refused, and Brant being at the place, and hearing his desire, obtained permission for the captive to do so, and when finished, sent a runner back to Vromans- land with it, for which act of kindness, Lieu- tenant Vroman always entertained a marked respect for the chieftain, much to the displeasure of his neighbors, who, in their unreasonable con- clusions, marked him as a Tory. While we will not deny but that Brant was of the invading party, yet since Crysler has claimed the honor of being one also, we will give him the credit, and also be suspicious of his being the leader, and, in Indian disguise palming himself off for the warrior, Brant. At one other time, in the year following, an invasion of the same ground was made by Adam Crysler, but supposed by the inhabitants to be accompanied by Brant. In his report of the affair, he says: " It was on the 10th of November 1781, and he at the head of twenty-eight ' Aughquagas' killed one man near the fort and drove off fifty head of cattle, a number of horses and burnt two houses, and in their retreat the Rebels turned out to the num- ber of thirty and overtook them about four miles from the fort. Being fired upon they returned the compliment and killed one man, when the Rebels retreated aud pursued them the follow- ing morning with 150 men, and overtook them about twenty-three miles from the fort, when a
skirmish occurred in which the 'Rebels' lost ' four men and seven wounded.'"
Author Simms disagrees with the Captain's report in the date and also in the number of men brought in action, which is not of great inoment. Exaggerations were often made, and much that occurred upon each side was not told, as is the case in all warlike conflicts, as also in less serious moral, political and religious skirmishes. The savages had been harbored near for several days, watching an opportunity to make a successful strike, and to find the fort left in a defenseless condition. Early in the morning, just at day, of either the Ist or 10th of November 1781, they suddenly appeared and killed Isaac Vroman and after taking plunder from his son Peter's house -- with whom Isaac was staying-they retreated up the valley. Peter escaped to the fort and apprised its in- mates, numbering only a few, of the invasion, and after a few hours delay, a squad of militia followed on after the savages, and when near Governor Bouck's late residence, were fired upon by them as they lay in ambush, mortally wound- ing one man as stated by Crysler and Simms. After returning the compliment, the militia re- treated, carrying their dying conrade-Richard Haggidorn-off the field, and to the upper fort. The same day, Colonel Vroman was made ac- quainted with the affair, and he dispatched from the middle fort, under Captain Hale, a company of sixty regulars that were there sta- tioned Or the winter, and ordered Captain Hager of the upper fort to join Hale, with the force under him and proceed in pursuit of the Indians. Captain Hager, who was in command, marched up the stream and encamped for the night in the present town of Blenheim, and early the following morning overtook the enemy near the lake in Jefferson, where a skirmish occur- red.
At the time Johnson and Brant invaded the Schoharie valley in October, 1780, but little in- jury was done within the limits of the town for two reasons. They had slyly gained the valley opposite the "upper fort" early in the morn- ing and intended to approach the "middle" one, unobserved, and pass down without molest- ing property. But their coming was known by
176
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
the patriots, and vigilant watch kept up, and they no sooner passed the fort than one of the Feek family discovered their presence, while after his cows near the creek. They had gained nearly a mile north of the fortress, by the time Feek reported his discovery to Cap- tain Hager. No sooner did he learn the fact, than the small ten-pounders blazed forth from their sulphurous mouths the approach of devas- tation, crime and death, to the dwellers of the valley, who dared breathe a declaration of in- alienable right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The other reason was that the invaders of the 10th of August of the preceding year, had left but little for them to destroy. The harvest of 1780 had been mostly secreted in the woods upon the hillsides, and much escaped the torch. No sooner did the little cannons echo the doleful news, than the middle fort responded, "We are ready," and the pent-up hatred that filled the bosoms of the enemy, burst forth with flaming torches, and satanic whoops over the charred and bloody trail of a neighbor-kinsman and professed Christian, Adam Crysler, and finished the work of desolation, directly along the stream, with exultation, and poured down upon the quiet hamlet of Middleburgh, where they were received by as brave and determined a band of patriots as ever a nation boasted. With what excitement the force in the upper fort must have listened to the roar of musketry, front the con- flict below! But they were undaunted and prepared to defend their castle, to death or vic- tory ! Here, where now no mark is left to guide the visitor to the hallowed spot upon which the fortress stood, was, upon that eventful day, dis- played valor, not excelled in American history. Although we have referred to the act in Chapter III of this work, let us not forget, through displeasure of repetition, the example of Amer- ican female bravery in the bold stand of Mary Haggidorn, at the gate of the pickets, with spear in hand, to repel an attack. The garrison at that time did not contain many over one hun- dred, but they were a brave and unflinching band, and under Hager, would have given the enemy a warmer reception than they received at the middle fort, we think, as the Captain was a
plucky man and had the faculty of pushing busi- ness that was entrusted to him. The fort he commanded was also better adapted to such occasions than the middle one. The enemy, in small numbers, stealthily appeared in the neigh- borhood after the murder of Isaac Vroman, but little was to be gained, as the few remaining in- habitants either stayed at the fort or removed to more populous sections until the war closed. No portion of Schoharie suffered during the war as did Vromansland, and no doubt the Tory settlers above looked upon those fine farms with a jealous eye, and expected their re- ward for their treachery in becoming the pos- sessors of them. But fortune's fickle goddess turned the scales and the poor deluded villains lost their own by confiscation, and were obliged to seek homes in a strange land, under the protection of the Crown for which they had forsaken manhood and principle.
The descendants of those sufferers, that lin- ger upon the grounds made historical by their patriotic deeds, can but faintly appreciate the social and political blessings they enjoy and the
"Peace that smiles on all around."
bequeathed to them by such noble fathers. May they consider each spot hallowed, and the priceless trusts confided to them, sacred.
The Bouck Family .- The Bouck family came to this town at a very early date, William Bouck having been the first settler bearing the name.
Christian, a Palatine immigrant of 1710, was no doubt the progenitor of the family, and he may have settled with the Palatines in the valley in 1713, but it is doubtful. We believe one of his sons, William, to have been the first one of the family in Schoharie, the father going from the camps to Albany, where he settled. William was the progenitor of the family under notice. He, in company with Nicholas York and Jacob Fred Lawyer, pur- . chased 2,945 acres of land, including the Island, in 1755. The lands were partitioned June 5, 1759, the island becoming the property of Bouck, who in course of time settled his three sons upon it. Christian received that part now occupied by Hon. Charles Bouck, John north of it, while William, Jr., settled upon
HON. CHARLES BOUCK.
Charles Bouck son of the late ex-Governor Bouck, was born upon Bouck's island Septem- ber 7, 1829. In his youth he attended the district school, in which his distinguished parent was so punctual in attendance, and the Albany City academy where he passed an academic course of studies. Not aspiring to high life-but inheriting the natural charac- teristics of the family, he chose agricultural pursuits. He married a daughter of Benjamin Best and settled upon the old homestead and extensively engaged in such productions as are peculiar to the soil and climate.
Mr. Bouck's choice of life was well made, as a more productive soil and romantic spot than the Bouck farm and its surroundings, is hard to find-particularly in the latter feature. Upon the west stands the bold Panther mountain in all its primeval grandeur and appearance, with the Schoharie river running at its base-whose wa- ters after tumbling and tossing over craggy cas- cades and disturbing rapids-idly flow, as if reluctant to break the reverie in which nature seems to be enwrapped-and do honor to the
LITTLE
GOV. WM. C. BOUCK.
associations that here cluster, so full of modesty and unassuming dignity. Around the island clings a halo of pleasing remembrances of a people's just and active chief magistrate -- whose honesty and simplicity of greatness that won reverence and renown were here infused from the heart of a humble and exemplary father and the yearning soul of a christian mother. Quiet and unostentation reign as they did in the active life of the Governor, while the genial hospital- ity of Mr. Bouck and family is truly refreshing to the many that yearly visit the Island House. Being thus content to pass his life, Mr. Bouck has but few times felt constrained to accept public positions. In 1859 and 1865, he was elected by his townsmen to the board of Super- visors by almost an unanimous vote. In 1878 he was sent to the Legislature and served upon several important committees. In each public position the performance of the duties attend- ing them were characterized by faithful and earnest regard for the people's interest, and free from scheming peculations for farther official promotions.
BENJAMIN BEST.
Mr. Benjamin Best was for many years one of the leading business men of the County. He was born in Columbia county, N. Y., on the 16th of February, 1785, and was a son of Jacob Best, who, together with two brothers, emi- grated from Germany. One of the brothers remained in Columbia county; another set- tled in western New York, while Jacob located in Schoharie.
The subject of this sketch early decided up- on an education, and embraced every oppor- tunity to improve himself, and prepare for a useful and active business life. When but a young man he formed an acquaintance with many of the leading public men of the day, among whom was Governor Morgan Lewis, who appointed him his sole agent in the superin- tendence of his landed property in the County, which position he held forty years. He was also receiving agent of the Alexander property, the same term of years, which covered the exciting Anti-Rent days.
As proof of his sagacity as a business man, and honor as a gentleman, he engineered the business relating to the estates through without trouble or incurring the enmity of the landlords or tenants. He was a person of strict integrity, great precision of character, and commanded universal respect. At the age of forty he mar- ried Katy, daughter of Timothy Murphy, and settled upon the farm now occupied by Abram Spickerman, where he resided until the time of his decease.
Mr. Best was a staunch Democrat, and held the office of Justice of the Peace, fifteen suc- cessive years, and rejected other positions of public trust proffered him. Among the many political friends and workers in the interest of Governor Bouck and his promotion, none were more firm and enthusiastic than Mr. Best.
He died at the homestead, February 13, 1868, leaving a wife and four daughters : Mrs. Charles Bouck, Mrs. James Ferguson, Mrs. Abel S. Hall, and Mrs. Edwin Hoyt.
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TOWN OF FULTON.
the south. The lands were held by the family intact until 1795 or 1796, when John disposed of his part and removed to Schoharie Village, and became Assistant Judge of the County. William, Jr., familiarly called Wilhelmus, reared a family as follows: William W., Frederick, Tobias, Mrs. Simon Hager, Maria and Mrs. Jeremy-Berner. Christian remained upon his portion of the estate until 1836, when he died at the age of eighty-three, having lived an event- ful life and reared a son who was to preside as the Chief Magistrate over his native State and perpetuate the family name by a long political career free from ostentation and corruption. William, the progenitor, was an aged yet robust man during the Revolution and was taken pris- oner by a party of Indians under the command of Seths Henry in July, 1780. After the fact became known at the upper fort, Captain Hager sent a squad in pursuit and overtook the party in the present town of Jefferson, the following day. The Indians, finding the patriots were greater in numbers than their own, fled precipitately, leaving their prisoners together with their booty in the hands of their pursuers. Those taken with Mr. Bouck were negro ser- vants who had accompanied him from the fort to the farm. The old gentleman was then a widower, his wife having died in 1770. Upon the hill near William Mitchell's residence stands an ancient tombstone, marking her resting place, and from it we learn she was born in Amsterdam, but the date, being so crumbled we were unable to decipher it.
Judge Brown says, " Johannes Earhart, Wil- helmus Bouck and Elizabeth Lawyer were the first white children born in Schoharie." It may be possible, but we would have more faith in the assertion if he had said " the first German children born at the Camps," as we are yet to find proof of either the Lawyer or Bouck families coming to Schoharie before the year 1720 and 1730. To harbor the idea that the Germans lived here from 1713 to either of those dates, without issue, is acknowledging insanity or ignorance of their customs. From the first, the family has been a very prominent one of the County, especially in a political sense.
William C. Bouck was born in the old family
mansion, upon the Island, on the 7th of January, 1786,and was baptized by the good old Dominie Waekenhager in August of the same year. He early labored upon the old homestead, but was not negligent of his studies. The first English school in the town was commenced in the neighborhood in 1795, which the coming Gov- ernor, at the age of nine years attended. We here copy the register of the school bearing date November 23, 1795, kindly furnished by our friend John Gebhard, Jun. The teacher was Isaac Bushnell, a New England " school master," whose wages were "fio this quarter :" Elizabeth Bouck. . 17 days.
Caty Bouck.
36 do
Benj. Best .53₺ do
Isaac Best
.50 do
William W. Bouck
.39
do
Fred Bouck. .37
do
William C. Bouck .59
do
Joseph C. Bouck . 40
clo
Cornelius Acker. .55
do
Polly Barnard
.37
do
Caty Whitney. 48
do
Betsy Vroman
55
do
It will be seen that the future politician at- tended the greatest number of days. His first public position was clerk of the town, and next as supervisor of Schoharie, and after filling sev- eral such local offices he received the appoint- ment of sheriff of the County in 1812, holding the same one year only, as the following season he was elected to the State assembly and re- elected in 1815 and 1817. In 1821 and 1822, he was State Senator, where he became connected with the Clintonians in the interests of public improvements, especially the Erie Canal enter- prise and received the appointment by the Gov- ernor and Legislature as Canal Commissioner, March 29, 1821, which office he held until 1840, when political influences led the Whig legislature to remove him and place one of that political sentiment in his stead. In the latter year he was the Democratic candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Wm. H. Seward, but upon being again nominated in 1842, he was elected, and made one of the most economical and watchful Governors the people have been fortu- nate to elect. A vast amount of humor was
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
indulged in during both campaigns, but nothing to disturb the confidence all parties reposed in his administration. Being brought up under the economical customs of the early settlers of the County he infused the principles in every de- partment over which he had control. His man- ner was plain and unpretending, yet dignified and graceful and won the confidence of every one he met.
As we have referred to his economical habits, the message which may be found in Chapter IV, plainly shows that they were carried in liis of- ficial life to the interest of the State. One of the chief characteristics of the man, was fear of setting a bad example, or one that would en- courage wastefulness, extravagance, and dishon- esty. The New York Daily News relates an incident in the life of Wm. C. Bouck, while dis- charging the duties of Governor of the State. Another periodical that copied the article, re- ferring to it says-" A perusal thereof cannot fail to impart a high degree of satisfaction to those who, residing in the same county prior and subsequent to his administration, know how genuinely characteristic they are of the ‘good old man, now gone to his rest.'"
Would that all men in office would be as careful not to set a bad example as was Gov- ernor William C. Bouck.
The New York News says : The late Gover- nor Bouck, than whom a truer, better man never lived, said to a friend of ours, after he had dis- charged the duties of the Chief Magistracy of the State about one year: "When I first en- tered upon the office, I was so engaged in try -- ing to reconcile conflicting opinions, produce harmony in the party, and please everybody, that I paid no attention to my household ex- penses. At the end of the first three months, my quarter's salary was paid and my bills due were presented. To my utter dismay, the lat- ter exceeded the former. During my entire life I had made it a point never to spend more in a quarter than I had received from my earnings: I believed that to be a good rule, and that, as Governor of the State, I should not transgress it and set a bad example, which might be the means of ruining thousands. I began to cast
about, to see where I could cut down my ex- penses. The State officers had hired the house I occupied without consulting me, and the State paid the rent. I had nothing to say or do in that particular. The State officers who, because I was a country farmer, took particular pains to instruct me, told me I must bring my best span of horses and carriage from my farm in Scho- harie, and ride in it, or I would degrade the high office to which the people had elected me. They also said I must have a colored waiter to attend the door of my residence, and a head- cook and three or four assistants in the kitchen, and two or three chambermaids, besides a coach- man to drive my carriage. I remembered that during the entire quarter I had not found time to ride in the carriage with my family, except to church on Sundays, and then the coachman could not go to church, having to take care of the team. This I did not believe was doing ex- actly right, or setting a good example. I thought that myself and family could walk to church, as the distance was not great. We thereby would appear not to feel above others who walked, and, as the Governor's family, would be setting a better example than by riding. My wife also proposed to dismiss the chief cook and all the assistants but one, and she would superintend the cooking as she always had done on the farm ; and my daughters proposed to dismiss the chambermaids, and they would do the cham- berwork. No sooner was this agreed on than accomplished. The large bays and carriage went back to the farm in Schoharie, and the ex- tra help were all dismissed. Everything worked like a charm. The colored door-man whom I retained assisted in waiting on the table. The State officers and my city friends did not observe but that all was as first arranged when they called. We walked to church, and greeted kindly all we met there, and enjoyed the servi- ces without thinking that the coachman could not attend them. We reduced our expenses to within my salary. I felt better immediately. I feel better now. I can discharge my duties better ; and when my term of office expires and I return to private life, I shall feel that when I was Governor of the State I did not set an ex- ample of extravagance in any respect which might be the means of ruining any one."
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