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 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
JOHN FREEMIRE, JR.
The father of the subject of this sketch was John, or as he was commonly called, Johannes Freemire, one of the first settlers of Cobleskill. He was the only one of the family that survived the conflict of 1778, particularly described in the Chapter relating to the town of Cobleskill, excepting a brother who fled to Canada with the unscrupulous Zea.
At the close of the war, John removed to Breakabeen, and was married to a sister of Christian Bouck. John, Jr., was there born January 20, 1785, and was reared under the prevailing rules of those days, in industry and frugality, with but little if any educational ad- vantages, beyond those afforded by daily inter- course and dealings with neighbors in the inter- change of produce, etc.
Mr. Freemire was united in marriage with Catherine Bartholomew in the year 1809 and lived upon the homestead farm, which he cleared of timber and which is now inherited and occu- pied by his son, William H., and there resided until his death, which occurred August 22, 1876. He was an earnest Democrat of the old school and a firm friend of his neighbor and townsman, William C. Bouck. The Governor's confidence in his honesty and strict adherence to systematic rules of performing duty, led to the appoint- ment of Mr. Freemire as Guard at the Sub- Treasury in New York City. He held that
TOWN OF FULTON.
193
LITIL
JOHN FREEMIRE, Jr.
position of trust three years and returned to his home.
Not aspiring to official positions, he was but once elected to office and then as Justice of the Peace, although repeatedly urged to accept that and other honors. His characteristic spirit of retirement led him to refuse a compliance with the earnest and oft repeated appeals of his townsmen.
His married life was blessed in rearing a large family of children who have proven themselves useful and energetic citizens, such as reflect credit upon the wise counsels and examples of
honest parents. They are Mrs. John B. Wal- dron, of Breakabeen ; John Freemyer, of Cass- opolis, Mich .; Mrs. Wm. Woolford, of Brook- lyn, N. Y .; William H, of Breakabeen; and Abram, of Middleburgh. Mrs. Ephraim Pat- terson also was a daughter but died several years ago, as did her patriotic husband who re- ceived injuries that proved fatal while in the late Rebellion.
The family name was originally spelled Fri- mire, but of late has been changed to Freemyer with the common consent of all branches of the family.
194
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
ADAM L. MATTICE.
Adam L. Mattice is a worthy representative of the early settlers of the valley, and of one in particular, Nicholas Mattice who first located within the neighborhood of the "upper fort." At what time he immigrated is not known, but he there reared a large family, in which were three sons-Adam, Frederick, and Conradt. Adam early espoused the cause of the Crown and fled to Canada as a Mohawk, in 1777, and there his descendants still reside.
Mrs. Burget, of Breakabeen, is the last of the direct heirs of Frederick, which fact leaves Con- radt the progenitor of those bearing the family name in the County. He resided upon the farmn now occupied by Josepli Mattice, where he reared six children as follows :- Lawrence, David, John, Henry, Mrs. John Brown, of Sharon, and Mrs. Garrett Hallenbeck, of Fulton.
Adam L. is one of five children of Lawrence Mattice, and was born in Fulton, September 15, 1803. He has always lived upon a farm and has accumulated a property that bespeaks a steady judgment and practical business quali- fications. He has served the town in the capacity of road commissioner, assessor and other minor offices for many years, and is looked upon by his townsmen as an upright man in whom they have confidence to act with honor and precision.
Although he has arrived at the advanced age of seventy-eight, yet the sturdy form is erect, the muscles strong and steady, and the mind clear and active, as are those of most of the children of pioneers of the County. He was united in marriage with Dinah, daughter of David Mat- tice, and to them have been born five children,
195
TOWN OF FULTON.
James H., Lawrence A., Garret W., Dinah and Elizabeth. James H. died January 16, 1874.
The business is at present being carried on by Garret W., and Lawrence A. Mattice.
EPHRAIM B. VROMAN.
Lieutenant Ephraim Vroman, of Revolution- ary fame, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. That patriot had four children that survived the Revolution : Bartholomew E., Josias E., Maria, (Mrs. Peter P. Zielie) and Harmonus, a child by his second wife. Bar- tholomew and Josias married sisters, they being daughters of Colonel Peter Dietz, whose patri- otism made the name historic and his memory live as long as literature exists. Josias E. has but two sons at present living, Harmon and Ephraim, who have arrived at advanced ages. Our subject is the only living heir of Barthol- omew and was born upon the old farm in Vro- mansland on the 18th of August, 1806. He was
reared as a farmer and strictly adhered to that occupation till within a short time, when he re- tired.
Mr. Vroman received but a meagre common school education, yet inheriting the natural characteristics of the two families from which he sprang, but few men possess equal business tact or a better practical judgment, as shown in his individual affairs and those of the public in which he has from time to time been urged to transact.
We are assured by those of greater age, who were personally acquainted with several of the old stock Vromans, that he is a true type of that sturdy race in form, features an'd general
196
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
appearance. He has five children as follows: Mrs. Alonzo Best, Mrs. Harmon Vroman, Mrs. Addison Cornell, George A., and Charles W., the latter two occupying the old farm that has been in the Vroman family since 1711.
Although Mr. Vroman is naturally reserved, yet he is firm in his convictions, and free in his expressions of right, and in the community in which he resides, as in his family, is looked up to as a wise counsellor, generous neighbor and an unflinching patriot. It was Mr. Vroman's grandmother and youthful aunt that were mur- dered at the foot of the Onistagrawa by the In- dian Seths Henry and his accomplice, Beacraft, the demoniac Tory. His father also was made to feel the vengeance of the unmerciful foe, in being their prisoner and forced to endure insults and hardships, which planted a hatred of In- dians and Tories in the family breast that has been transmitted, and will be undoubtedly for several generations, and gave birth to a staunch patriotism that truly is undying.
CHAPTER XIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBURGH.
BEAUTY OF SCENERY-THE MOUNTAINS-WEIS- ER'S DORF-CONRAD WEISER-HIS DAUGH- TER-JOHN PETER G. MUHLENBERG-HIS PATRIOTISM-CONRAD WEISER, JR .- INTER- PRETER-SETTLERS OF THE DORF-RELICS OF THE PAST-REFORMED CHURCH-IT'S EARLY HISTORY-EDIFICE REBUILT IN 1785- PETITION TO ASSEMBLY-OTHER PAPERS- PASTORS' REFORMED CHURCH-LUTHERAN CHURCH - METHODIST - EPISCOPAL - THE TRUE REFORMED CHURCH - MIDDLE FORT -DESCRIPTION-FIRING UPON THE FLAG-
ZIELIE FAMILY-FIRST ZIELIES IN THE VAL- LEY-FAMILY RELIC-COLONEL ZIELIE-HIS CHILDREN-PETER SWART-OLD CLOCK- LOW DUTCH BECKERS-BORST FAMILY- GRIST MILLS-LOUCK'S FAMILY-ECKERSON'S - FIRST MERCHANT - GRIST MILL - BEL- LINGER FAMILY-HARTMAN'S DORF-RICHT- MYER FAMILY -- REBUILDING OF THE VILLAGE -ALEXANDER BOYD-J. M. SCRIBNER -JOHN HINMAN-NATHAN HINMAN-BUILDING THE BRIDGE -JONATHAN DANFORTH-ATCHINSON HOUSE-FREEMIRE HOUSE-MERCHANTS- FREEMAN STANTON-JOHN P. BELLINGER- D. D. DODGE-TANNING-DANFORTH FAMI- LIES- GENERAL DANFORTH-PHYSICIANS- LEGAL FRATERNITY- HON. LYMAN SANFORD -NATIONAL BANK-MASONIC LODGE-I. O. G. TEMPLARS-G. A. R. POST-CORNET BAND-INCORPORATION-HUNTER'S LAND- SUPERVISORS-BOUNDARIES.
TN approaching Middleburgh village from Schoharie by the valley road, one is not so much impressed with the beauty of the scenery as when passing over the hill from the Cobles- kill valley, by the way of the poorhouse, there is presented one of those placid land- scapes, for which Schoharie County is noted. The broad well kept flats that stretch from the giant evergreen hills upon the west, to the slop- ing ones and the cliff on the east, are dotted here and there with spacious residences and out- buildings that bespeak the wealth and prosperity of the occupants, and present a winning picture of plenty and contentment. Old Mohegontee* stands out boldly as a terminus of a chain of picturesque hills, while Ocongena and Onista- grawa, in romantic contrast, look down upon the quiet scene below and give to the whole, grandeur and sublimity such as mountains only can give to rural sceneries. Upon their lofty summits and along their sides, the Aborigines of the country wandered for the deer, fox and
* Judge Brown. in his pamphlet history, gives the fol- lowing names to the three mountains: Mohegan, Cone- gena and Onisto Graw.
197
TOWN OF MIDDLEBURGH.
bear, while at their bases was reared the wig- wam, to which the first settlers of civilization in the valley, resorted for succor, in the winter of 1713, when they sought the "promised land " as refugees from the toils which selfish officials had woven to entrap them and make them un- willing servants to a monied aristocracy.
Here where the pleasant village now stands, the "seditious" Conrad Weiser made a choice for his settlement, which alone was evidence enough that he was not as ignorant as tradition and royal officials have represented him to be.
By consulting the second chapter of this work, we find that during the land difficulties, Weiser and his followers left the valley and settled in Pennsylvania about the year 1722. There the old man died and was buried a few miles from Reading, within a plot of ground marked out by himself. He was a prominent man in his neighborhood, and much esteemed by all who knew him. His daughter, Anna Maria, married Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, D. D., the foun- der of the Lutheran church in America.
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a son who gave to the world a glorious example of true patriotism.
He was educated for the ministry and or- dained in the year 1768, and at the outbreak of the Revolution, was stationed at Woodstock, Virginia. Of him, Lossing in his Field-book of the Revolution, says :-
"In 1774 he was chairman of the committee of safety in his county, and was also elected a member of the House of Burgesses. At the close of 1775, he was elected colonel of a Vir- ginia regiment.when he laid aside his pastoral character. In concluding his farewell sermon, he said, that in the language of Holy Writ, 'There was a time for all things; a time to preach, and a time to pray, but those times had passed away,' and then, in a voice that echoed like a trumpet-blast through the church, he said ' that there was a time to fight, and that time had now come!" Then laying aside his sacer- dotal gown, he stood before his flock in the full regimental dress of a Virginia Colonel. He ordered the drums to be beaten at the church door for recruits, and almost his entire male audience that were capable of bearing arms joined
his standard. Nearly three hundred men en- listed under his banner on that day. He was in the battle at Charlestown, in 1776, and served with fidelity in the Southern campaign that year. Congress promoted him to the rank of Brigadier-General, in February, 1777, and he was ordered to take charge of all the Continental troops of the Virginia line in that State. He joined the army of Washington, and was with him in all his movements until the year 1779. By the close of that year he was again or- dered to take command of the Virginia troops, and was active until the attack of Cornwallis at Yorktown. At the close of the war he was ele- vated to the rank of Major-General. He re- moved to Pennsylvania, and in various civil capacities served the State. He was a member of the first and third Congresses, and in 1801 was elected a United States Senator. The same year he was appointed supervisor of the internal revenue of Pennsylvania, and in 1802 was made collector of the port of Philadelphia. He re- mained in that office until his death, which oc- curred at his country-seat near Philadelphia, on the first of October (his birthday), 1807, at the age of sixty-one years."
John Conrad, Sr., was an Indian interpreter and agent and was succeeded by his son, John Conrad, whom it will be remembered was tutored as an interpreter while living here, for which ยท Adam Vroman made a charge against his father to Governor Hunter in 1715. Young Weiser was employed by the government for many years as such, and was often in company with Washington in making treaties with the Indians. Tradition says that when Washington was en- route as President of the United States, to the city of New York, he traveled many miles out of his way to visit the grave of his much es- teemed friend.
We find the descendants of the Weiser family quite numerous and occupying prominent posi- tions; and when we look upon the life of Gen- eral Muhlenberg we cannot but believe that the spirit of Weiser was inherited by him, which was called " rebellious, seditious and obstinate, and an outgrowth of ignorance," when the family lived at the camps and in the Schoharie valley. It is to such spirits we are indebted for our po-
198
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
litical and religious liberties, and upon which oppression has always tried to trample.
We might with propriety here state that all of the descendants of the followers of Weiser, were true patriots in the Revolution without a single exception to our knowledge.
There was one of the Beckers that removed with Weiser, whose last heir it has been sup- posed, died several years ago leaving a vast prop- erty which has remained without an ownership since, but it is a mistake, as the family now living near Philadelphia are more numerous than those of the Schoharie settlement to-day. The progenitor was of the High Dutch family and brother of Johannes, who settled on Fox's creek.
When the Germans came to the valley there were a small number of Mohegans living to the north of the confluence of the Little Schoharie, with the main stream. There could not have been many, yet it must have been in their hos- pitable wigwams they found shelter after their dreary march through the deep snow, from Liv- ingston's manor. This portion of the Scho- harie tribe dwindled away to a few in number, and the land they occupied was taken by the Zielies and Eckersons as early as 1730, and perhaps earlier. The Indians gave way as the whites increased, and at last congregated at and near the castle in Vromansland where they were in 1750, with the exception of a few straggling ones, found here and there along the streams. Queen Anne had directed implements of all kinds to be sent from England with the Ger- mans, but it cannot be supposed Weiser and his followers were allowed to share in them since they mutinied and left the Camps, " against re- peated orders," but were forced to depend upon their ingenuity and that of the Indians in build- ing without them, and when spring came, to plant for. a better subsistence than "roots and herbs."
Although they were destitute for a while, it was not long before they managed to obtain the necessary utensils to till the ground and build their huts and from the tenor of Adam Vroman's letter to Governor Hunter, bearing date July, 1715, they had horses, and that they drove them upon his grain in the night, beside " tied bells upon their necks and drove them
to and fro." Judge Brown tells us, "nine of them owned the first horse, which was a gray," but we find in little over two years after they settled here, they had "horses." Perhaps the Judge had not reference to Weiser and his clan, but to those who came after by the way of Albany and the Helleberg, and settled lower down the valley, but his dates correspond nearer to this settlement, yct in them he is inaccurate. Weiser located to the east of the present Methodist church, and we are fully convinced after a careful study of the matter, that another settlement was made by his immediate followers to the west, where the Reformed church now stands. It may and may not have been direct- ly under his charge as "list master " or business man, it matters not. There was a settlement made, but there being so many people upon a small space of ground the settlement broke up in a few ycars, as Hartman's dorf did, for broader fields, that each could ply their voca- tions as farmers, principally, more extensive. That together with Weiser's, proper, and Hart- man's, made three settlements within a distance of less than two miles, and contained at least one hundred and sixty families according to tra- dition and documents heretofore copied. Thus the practical reader will see at once that they could not subsist without great inconvenience, and would, as soon as possible, divide and settle upon farms. They did so, and by the year 1730 the whole valley was, as far down as the Island opposite of the present village of Sloansville, taken up by them and new comers, and under a fair state of cultivation. Many that came- with the first parties, removed to the Mohawk, while others from there came here, especially during the land troubles. They were for the first few years a very uneasy people, and made it so for those around theni. Not only for Adam Vroman, but for the Indians, and officials both district and colonial. They firmly believed they were to be entrapped by land sharks, and were not far from right, and finding they could not obtain a "redress of their grievances," many of them left the valley for ever, which satisfied the honorable government officials that it was bet ter to give way to many of their foibles, espe- cially than lose " so valuable an acquisition to the frontier," which was experienced by those
199
TOWN OF MIDDLEBURGH.
that remained in the purchase of land at a nom- inal sum, with an assurance of peaceable pos- session.
It is not to be imagined that Weiser's dorf was left tenantless upon the removal of the dis- couraged party, as we find the Dillebacks, (Dil- lenbecks,) Earharts, Zehs, Weavers, Casselmans, Segendorfs, Borsts, Schaeffers, Loucks, Rick- ards, Ingolds and Conradt families remained and were joined a few years after by the Eck- ersons, Zielies, and at a later date by others, progenitors of those who were actors in the Revolutionary scenes living near, not above mentioned. The history of the village and valley from 1722 to the Revolutionary strug- gle has but little interest. The forest was felled and the productive fields became broader, the rude huts were replaced by com- fortable houses, large barns took the place of barracks and stacks, and prosperity and con- tentment marked its course and abode at every turn. The occupants of the hamlet for the first few years of their settlement owned plots of ground upon the interval from which they ob- tained their supplies, but as their sons and daughters united to form other families they in- creased their acreage by purchasing of those who at an early date took advantage of the prospect and purchased of Governor Hunter. Many of those farms have been handed down from one generation to another for the space of one hundred and fifty years, and judging by the temperate, economical habits and pride of fam- ily another generation will enjoy the fruits of their forefathers' labors without passing to other hands. There are but few relics now to be seen that time has spared, to link the early set- tlement of this place with the present. The Reformed church as an organization-and a portion of the building used during the struggle for Independence as a fort, are the only objects that we meet. The old stone house near the Methodist church is one that our nearer fathers reared after they passed through the fiery ordeal of a war made sacred in the annals of history by their sacrifice of life, blood, and fortunes, upon the corner-stone of America's temple of liberty ! It is as a footprint of the hunted patri- ots in the ashes of devastation, after they eluded the vengeance of a mercenary, blood-thirsty foe !
It has been spared to us as the corner-stone of the re-building or second settlement of Weiser's dorf, as it will be remembered that the walls of the old brick church were all that was left of the village after Johnson and Brant's exit from the valley. But before we consider the events of that day let us go back to earlier times and peer into the darkness of the past, between the removal of Weiser and his followers, and the Revolution.
In making the attempt, we regret exceed- ingly that the few records that are left of those days are indeed but feeble tapers to lead us ac- curately, without stumbling, through the changes that circumstances required the sturdy yeoman to make. We cannot but admit, as all evidence establishes the fact,that Weiser's dorf was the first white settlement in the County, and that it was made in 1713, by High Dutch, while Vromans- land was settled by the Low Dutch in 1714 or 1715.
Reformed Dutch Church. - Knowing the natural propensity of the High and Low Dutch to the observance of religious rites and duties, we cannot believe they lived in the valley from 1713 to the year 1732, when this church as thought by many was founded, without religious services and an organization. Nor do we think they remained so up to the year 1728, when the Schoharie church was organized, and attended there. As the latter was founded but eight years at least after the settlement of the dorf in which it was organized, we cannot see any rea- son why this dorf was not as active, for these settlers were as able financially, as energetic, in a business point of view, and as religious as any other. We find that the people of this place and Vromansland in after years, beside maintain- ing this church, assisted in that of Fox's Creek. To conclude we cannot but think that the Middleburgh Reformed church was the parent church of the Schoharie settlements, and was founded long years before an edifice was erected, unless they built a rude house of worship, pre- vious to the one that was burned by Johnson and Brant in 1780, of which we have not the least knowledge. We cannot but think it was organized as early as 1714 or 1716. The early churches of the border settlements had no regu-
200
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
lar organized services, as at present, but per- haps they brought their organization with them from Germany. Their first religious proceedings were not recorded, as a general thing and if at all, they were kept in a rude unbusiness-like manner, and became lost. As we intimated before, we have faint light to guide us in the early history of the church.
Corwin's Manual says, Hendrick Hager preached in Schoharie between 1711 and 1717 as a missisonary. Undoubtedly he came as soon as a settlement was formed, and appearing among a people who were religious by birth, he formed or re-formed an organization among them. There being a deep enmity existing between the Germans and their Holland neigh- bors, at that time, and for several years we are led to believe the latter were not admitted in their society, but numbering several families, and being also a religious people, they held meetings in their own neighborhood, and perhaps formed an organization. Upon the coming of the Zielie and Eckerson families, who settled among the -Germans, and the removal of Weiser and his excitable followers, a friendly feeling was courted and in the course of a few years, the High and Low Dutch worshipped together, and when a new church edifice was to be built, they united in the erection of it. A few years later the Low Dutch gained the entire control of it, and the High Dutch society was consumed by them. It was after, or when the Low Dutch began to control or obtain a foot-hold, that the dates of 1732 and 1733, which we have relating to the church, began to appear, which has given the impression the church was then formed. Thus, regardless of which branch was first formed, since they merged into one, and this settlement being of at least five years the senior of Fox's dorf, the present Reformed church must be the parent church of the valley.
Through the politeness to present, and care to preserve, Mr. Hiram Zielie, of Webster City, Iowa, a grandson of Martinus Zielie, has fur- nished us with a few facts as recorded in his Grandfather's Low Dutch Bible. Upon the fly- leaf it says, "Our new brick church was dedicated on December the 18th day, 1737. Text from the Acts of the Apostles, 7th Chap. 47 to 50th verses inclusive. Rev. Dominie Snider Preacher."
Tradition has told us the building was of stone, and "built after the model of the ancient Dutch church in Albany, with a steeple rising from the center, but reference was had to the Fox's dorf church in the style of building. From French's history we learn that Johannes Schaffer, Hen- drick, Conradt, and Johannes Ingold, sold four- teen acres of land to Jonas LeRoy and Peter Spies for the support of the Middle church on January 3, 1737.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.