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 54
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TOWN OF ESPERANCE.
and the name changed to Esperance Sentinel and Schoharie and Montgomery County Reporter.
It was edited by Duncan McDonald, whose wife was a daughter of Horatio Gates Spafford, the author of "Spaffords Gazetteer." Mrs. McDonald was a fluent writer, and added much talent to the columns of the paper. The Senti- nel was " Anti-Masonic," and the copy before us of October, 1832, has the following nomina- tions made by that party, at the head of its columns :-
For President-William West. For Vice-President-Amos Ellmaker. For Governor-Francis Granger. For Elector-John Gebhard.
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The editorial says : -
"We entertain strong hopes that Schoharie is about to shake off the yoke of the regency and Masonic coalition and take the place she
formerly occupied among the old Democratic counties of the State, redeemed, regenerated, disenthralled."
The sheet was discontinued in 1836.
The town comprises nearly the whole of Jacob and Hendrick Ten Eyck's patent which was granted in 1739 and surveyed in 1761.
Lewis Morris' and A.' Coeymans' grant of 1726, lying at Kneiskern's dorf is mostly in the town, also a portion of the Schoharie patent, purchased in 1714, by Myndert Schuyler and others, and surveyed in 1726, running north and south on the west of Ten Eyck's grant. Lawyer & Zimmer's second allotment of 1768 also takes in a portion of the town upon the west and north of Morris & Coeymans', while the "Stone heap patent" of 1770 lies to the north and west of it and extends into the county of Montgomery.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
HON. WILLIAM S. CLARK.
Mr. Clark's grandparents, who were born in Duchess county, settled in Coeymans, Albany county, during the year 1773. His paternal grandfather being unable to endure the priva- tions of pioneer life, died at the age of thirty- two. His maternal grandfather, Reuben Stan- ton, was among those who by their vigor and hardihood, contributed much to clear up the wilderness in Coeymans, in the days when homes were never safe in consequence of the depredations of marauders, from the army in the war preceding the Revolution. He was for some years a licentiate in the Baptist church and was regularly ordained by that denomination in 1793, continuing to preach until he was disqualified by age. Mr. Clark's
parents settled on a farm in Carlisle, in 1813, where he was born, and where his father died in 1849.
Mr. Clark was favored with good educational opportunities, having attended some of the academies of Schoharie and Madison counties. He was a teacher during several winters, and then chose law as a profession ; he graduated from the Albany law school in the spring of 1858, and returned to Sloansville, where he now resides. Since then, however, he has gratified his desire for travel, to a great extent, and has also been identified with all movements of public interest in his locality, yet devoting lıim- self to the practice of his profession, in which his interest and status is shown by his partici-
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
pation in the organization of the New York State Bar Association, and present membership in that body.
In the year 1850, Mr. Clark was elected town superintendent of common schools in Carlisle, and was commissioner of excise dur- ing the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. He was nominated by acclamation by the Democrats, and elected without opposition to the Assembly of 1867, and was renominated and returned the following year by a majority of one thous- and, seven hundred and seventy-eight, leading his ticket just one hundred.
During the war, his talents and influence were exerted to sustain the government, by ad- dressing war and bounty meetings, and en- couraging volunteering, both in his own and the surrounding counties. He has always been a Democrat, and various political articles from his pen, which have appeared through the pub- lic press, among them his discussion of the pro- posed constitutional convention in 1858, and of the constitutional modifications suggested in the convention of 1867-display a repleteness of ideas and a vigor of analysis above the ordinary cast of mind. The position taken by Mr. Clark in the Legislature of 1867; was recognized by his appointment by Speaker Pitts, as a member of the joint committee to investigate the management of the canals.
His ability and legislative experience made him quite a prominent candidate for Speaker of the House in 1868, for which position he re- ceived favorable commendations from the press, but in deference to the unanimity of the New York delegation and in recognition of the claim of the New York Democracy, Mr. Clark with- drew from the canvass prior to the caucus.
Following our natural expectations from such antecedents, Mr. Clark's conception of Legisla- tive duties is not confined to mere local inter- ests but embraces within its scope, legislation of a general character ; and the comprehensive-
ness both of his views and his familiarity with the requirements of the people, is indicated by the bills introduced by him in relation to the registry, assessment and highway laws of the State. He also rendered efficient aid to the Albany & Susquehanna railroad passing in the Assembly the bill which gave $250,000 State aid to that project, by a vote of seventy-six, thus assuring the early success of that enterprise whose value is now so well known.
Mr. Clark, having been a member of the select committee on canals in 1867, and the Legislature of 1868 preferring articles of im- peachment against R. C. Dorn, then ex-canal commissioner, he was appointed by Speaker Hitchman as one of the managers on the part of the Assembly, in the prosecution of the im- peachment, and took an active part in the con- duct of the trial. The versatility of Mr. Clark's attainments and his standing in the Assembly are further shown by his appointment as one of a select committee to examine, during the recess, the historic relics in the collection of S. G. Eddy, of Stillwater, N. Y., and J. R. Simms of Fort Plain. His report on the subject was full and explicit, having the concurrence of his colleagues, resulting in the securing to the State the more valuable of the collections. In de- bate he was ready, forcible, logical and at all times eloquent, always having the attention of the Assembly ; and by his suavity of manner and geniality of nature, secured not only the good will, but the personal regard of all his associates in the House. In his position as Chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, he was indefatigable in his labors to facilitate the progress of the measures submitted to the scrutiny of the committee. He served also on the Committee on Charitable and Religious Societies, and on Local General Orders.
: Mr. Clark is still in the full vigor of life, enjoys a good joke or a keen sarcasm with the same zest that an epicure relishes his salads,
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and we doubt not that his versatile intelligence and recognized ability will secure for him higher positions and larger trusts ; and however high the position the future may assign him, he will discharge its duties with fidelity unquestioned and honor untarnished.
Our subject also has a finely cultivated liter- ary taste and exhibits in his composition a cer- tain vim and dash which excite and insure one's admiration. His " Memoir of Charles Howard Phelps" which was written for the trustees of Dudley observatory, and subsequently published by them, is a chaste and beautiful tribute to the memory of one whose whole soul was inspired with the grandeur of astronomy and whose life trembled at the impressions of those master thoughts which seem to transfigure the whole being.
Mr. Clark's address delivered at the centennial anniversary of the Seward Massacre in 1780, held at Seward, October 18, 1880, in the presence of a large gathering of people from the surrounding country, possesses so much that is grand and eloquent that we here published it in full :-
" Mr. President and fellow citizens, mine the pleasing, though somewhat laborious and diffi- cult task, to gather up the raveled threads of the events which these scenes recall, and in memory of which we are assembled, and weave them the best I may, into chapters of this day's proceedings, to make the volume of their his- tory which shall cheer, encourage and inspire your descendants through coming generations and all the future. The same sky is over us ; we inhale air of the same balminess and invigorating power; the same beauty of landscape with its un- dulating plain, gentle sloping hillside and tow- ering mountain, environs this spot as it did a hundred years ago.
" But how different the other surroundings and accessories of this and that afternoon ! The danger which lurked in the shadow of every rock and tree as the stillness of the night set-
tled upon the earth, and ambushed in every road-side, bush or thicket in the bright sunlight of mid-day, is forever dispelled; prosperity abounds on every side ; peace serenely and se- curely sits everywhere in these fruitful valleys and among those beautiful hills ; safety abides under every roof-tree, and security, joy, and happiness dwell with you in all your homes. And all this contrast because the settlers of New Dorlach were patriots !
""Twas in the cause of liberty and freedom that John France fell, and Catharine, fairest of the fair, was sacrificed. To commemorate their lives and keep green the memory of this ruthless sacrifice, by every means in your power, is the noblest work in the lives of their descend- ants, and can but inspire in the hearts of you all, emotions of gratitude that the patriot fathers and mothers throughout the length and breadth of Tryon county as well as those of New Dorlach, endured the trials, bore the bur- den of privation, suffering and sorrow, with a fortitude and heroism beside which, in the world's history, occurs neither its equal nor parallel, and must beget in you all a deeper devotion to the land of your birth-to your homes and firesides, where spring earth's brightest hopes and nestle its sweetest, most heavenly joys ; and induce that love and vener- ation for your country and its glorious flag, which alone will secure the perpetuation and trans- mission of the blessings we all enjoy.
" Here are the descendants of the Merckleys and Bastian France, whose names have been alluded to as those around which clusters the interest of this grand occasion. With these people you are acquainted and of them, there- fore, I need not speak, except Gilbert G. France, your president of the day, whose father was the captured Henry, which may surprise some of you. But there are here, to-day, besides Gilbert G. France and his nephews, William G. and Albert France, whom you all
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
know, two other sons of the captured Henry France-David and Jacob-venerable men, upon whose heads are the snows of nearly four- score years, and who have journeyed from their distant homes, that they might be here on this hundredth anniversary of the event, which for the hour, so darkened the heart of their ancestors ; to drop a tear to the memory of Catharine Merckley and John France, upon the soil consecrated to liberty by their blood- 'the deep damnation of whose taking off' can now never be forgotten ; to drink again from the fountain of patriotism, and catch thence an inspiration, which with an unfaltering faith and trust in the promises of Christianity, shall cheer and sustain them as they totter down life's steep decline. Jacob France, of Cold Brook, Herkimer county, and David France, of South Canisteo, Steuben county, evince by their presence, though burdened by the weight of years, their love of home and native land. More than this, Jacob France is both precept and example to the young men and youth here to-day, and wherever else the story of this day's exercises shall come.
".Coming into possession of the German Bible of his grandfather, Bastian France, late in life, with which language he was wholly unacquainted, he resolved when seventy-two years old that he would learn to read the word of his and his grandfather's God in the language in which it was written, and in eighteen months had so mastered it that he was able to read the Scrip- tures in the German, and has since read that Bible, aged a hundred and thirty-five years, twice through in course.
" Young men of Seward, of the adjoining towns and of the County, there is encourage- ment, cheer and inspiration to duty, in this to you, and to perseverance in whatever you may properly undertake, which insures success. David France, by his devoted labors as a min- ister of the gospel during fifty-two years of his
life, attests at once his belief and trust in the God of his fathers, and therefore his worth and merit as a citizen and patriot.
"Among the wonderful achievements of in- vention and science since, in answer to patriot invocations, war's dread alarms were hushed and peace smiled over the land, I would men- tion those of Albert France to whom allusion has been made in the manufacture of guns and projectiles, who by his breech-loading cannon with steel-pointed ball, second to none in the world for war's dread conflict, has made the iron- clads of the world's navies but as the valueless wooden walls of ancient naval armaments.
" The clustering memories of noble deeds of patriot sires, incited and nerved by the bloody sacrifices we commemorate, the emotions of gratitude they awaken and the grand lessons they inculcate, are all too numerous for the swift flying hours, and I leave thern all to say, that realizing the difference between the peace of to-day and the terrors of a hundred years ago, when the slumbers of innocence were brok- en by the fiendish war-whoops of the painted savage, and making sleepers affrighted by gleam- ing tomahawks or glittering scalping-knife, faithful to the teachings of the hour and the glistening memories of the past, your descend- ants shall here assemble in October, 1980, un- der the same bright stars and stripes, to re- memorize the tragedies of a hundred years ago, and by the act, will, as you do now, with prayer and song, dedicate themselves and their livesto God and their native land.
" Descendants of Bastian France, to you re- mains, and upon you devolves a holy duty, made sacred by this day's pageant of banner and music, oratory and song. It is, that you erect to the memory of the murdered John France, a suita- ble monumental stone. I appeal to you and adjure you by the 'green graves of your sires,' let not another October's sun arise ere the work of love is done."
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CHAPTER XXI".
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WRIGHT.
TOWN FORMED-FIRST SETTLEMENT-BECKER FAMILY-ITS HISTORY-PEDIGREE-BECKER LAND GRANT-FIRST SAW MILL-HON YOST BECKER-HIS INTENDED MARRIAGE-JOHN DOMINICK AND FAMILY-DR. MULTER WHIPS DOMINICK-HESSIAN SETTLERS-EVENTS OF 1782-BURNING OF ZIMMER'S BUILDINGS- BECKER MURDERED-BOYS SECRETED-AD- VANCE UPON MAJOR BECKER'S HOUSE- JACOB AND WILLIAM FLEE TO THE MOUN- TAIN-JOHN HUTT -- GEORGE SCHELL -- FIRING UPON THE INDIANS-SNYDER AND MANN CAPTURED-TRADITIONARY TALE OF SETHS HENRY'S DEATH -TREATMENT OF PRISON- ERS-MAJOR BECKER'S DEATH-STONE STORE AT SHUTTER'S CORNERS-HENRY BECKER- FOUNDING OF SCHOOL - RESOLUTIONS - HUNTING FAMILY -- GALLUPVILLE -- TANNERY -- CHURCHES-REFORMED CHURCH - METHO- DIST-LUTHERAN-TEMPERANCE-SCHOOL- NEW VILLAGE-WAGON MAKING-DUTCH SETTLEMENT -- WEIDMAN'S-HIRAM WALDEN OFFICIALS - SUPERVISORS -- VALUATION - MERCHANTS AND PHYSICIANS-BOUNDARIES.
HIS town was formed from Schoharie on
T" the 4th of April, 1846, through the Legis- lative labors of the late Judge John C. Wright, then Senator of the Third District, and named in honor of the acting Governor, Silas Wright.
It is peculiarly adapted to both agriculture and manufacture, although but little of the lat- ter is practiced, yet by the aid of capital, Fox's creek and the numberless small streams that issue from the hillsides might be utilized for such purposes, and be as profitable as like privi- leges warrant throughout the Eastern States.
Agriculture has arrived at an as advanced state in this town as any other of the County in the production of cereals and grasses to which the land is adapted, especially winter grains.
The first settlement made in the town was near the present village of Gallupville, at an early date, probably about the year 1735.
We are of the opinion based upon circum- stances and documents, that the Becker family were the pioneer settlers, and in view of the fact that they form a goodly representation in the population of the township at the present time, beside being connected with events of historic interest during the Revolutionary war, we will refer to their early history and be more particular in regard to the individual members of the family as occasion will require a knowl- edge of their connection.
During the voyage from Germany the father and husband died, leaving the mother and two sons, Johannes and Jacob, as the only repre- sentatives of the German or High Dutch Beckers in America. They settled upon the Hudson river, below the Camps, and must have remained there several years, as the mother married, and the sons there grew to manhood and married before they came to the promised land of Schoharie. The tradition of the family as given us by Gideon Becker, a great-grandson of Johannes, who has spared neither pains nor expense in tracing the history and lineage of his ancestors, is to the effect that the two broth- ers started alone with guns and knapsacks from their homes upon the Hudson, and fol- lowed that stream up to the Mohawk, and from thence to the Schoharie creek and located here, it being the suburbs of the Schoharie settle- ment.
The mother and step-father followed, and a rude but comfortable house was built near the present site of Austin Becker's farm house, now occupied by Spateholts. There they quietly labored and laid the foundation of the wealth and influence the family possessed and enjoyed for many long years, even down to the present time, yet not forgetful of the customs of the " Fater land," which proved disastrous to the existence of the step-father. His name was Bashsha, and he had served many years as a soldier in his native land. Observing the old German customs of making New Year's day merry by songs, dances, drinking and athletic sports, his near neighbors, the Indians, were invit-
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
ed to partake of his hospitality, and perhaps con- tributed to the sports. At the close of the day, target shooting was indulged in, and an old squaw, wishing to exhibit her science in gunning, begged the privilege of trying her skill, but be- ing under the influence of "firewater," she carelessly shot Bashsha, instead of the target. He died soon after, regretting that, after passing through several wars, he at last fell by the hand of a drunken squaw.
Jacob, not liking the country, again shouldered his gun and knapsack, and traveled down the Susquehanna, and joined the German colony at Tunkhannock, in Pennsylvania, where his de- scendants still reside.
It will be seen that Johannes, or John, and the widowed mother, were the only ones left of the family. The former became a large land- holder, and the progenitor of the present High Dutch Becker family of Schoharie County, whose numbers are almost legion. His children were Johannes, Jr., Jacob, Hon Yost, (Joseph,) George, William, and Maria, (Mrs. John Werth, of Schoharie.)
Johannes, Jr., was father of young Peter Becker, of Carlisle, and Jacob was grand- father of Austin and Gideon Becker, of Gallup- ville. Joseph (Major) had two sons, Henry and John. The former was father to Mrs. Rix War- ner, of Cobleskill, and Mrs. Coats, and the latter the father of Martinus, and Hon- Yost, or Joseph, of Carlisle, David, Peter and Mrs. William Posson. George's sons were Peter Becker, (Old Peter) of Carlisle, William, of Gallupville, and Jacob, of Peoria. William died childless. He occupied the homestead.
The children settled upon lands the father pur- chased in 1743, and became prosperous farmers and true patriots. Near the time the Beckers came, Johannes Schaeffer and his son Johannes settled where William Schermerhorn now re- sides, and in company with Johannes Becker, purchased several thousand acres of land of Johannes Lawyer and John Depeyster, in 1743, upon which they located their children. Becker and Schaeffer made a division of the same, on the Ist of December, 1763. These two men became interested in several large tracts of land in different sections, especially the one lying in
Carlisle and Cobleskill, east of Borst's, or "Dor- lach patent," and designated as Becker's Pat- ent, also of one thousand, two hundred and forty-six acres, lying partly upon and to the west of Barton Hill, purchased February 5, 1772.
About the year 1740, there settled upon the farm now occupied by Christian Hilts, one Jacob Zimmer, who became connected with Johannes Lawyer, the second, in the purchase of large tracts of land, and was, at one time, a landed autocrat, being the possessor of at least ten thousand acres.
He became addicted to intemperate habits, and careless in business transactions, of which his partners took advantage, and obtained an assignment of all excepting a tract lying upon and around the present Zimmer hill. His shrewd- ness, only, saved it, which he divided among his heirs, with whom he lived during the latter part of his life. His sons were Adam, Peter, George and William, whose great-grandchildren occupy the land which he purchased at six-pence per acre, nearly one century and one-half ago.
Having now referred to the three families that first settled within the limits of the town, we will cast a glance toward the advancement made by them as pioneers in the year 1770. We find the three had united and built a saw- mill upon Alexander Zimmer's present farm and tradition tells us the water-wheel was eight feet in diameter and the crank of the pitman was made of wood and it required two men to man- ufacture them to keep the mill running as there being a great deal of strain upon it, and the wood being green, they would soon twist off. If the stick from which it was hewn was tough, it might possibly last one day, but usually one half of that time.
Hon Yost Becker caught the spirit of im- provement, undoubtedly, energetic,-and built another near his house about the year 1765 and he obtained an iron crank from Holland, which was the first one used upon the stream. Soon after he built a grist-mill in which he placed a "sopus " stone, that proved to be the death of his matrimonial calculations. He was to marry one of the buxom girls of Schoharie as soon as he returned from purchasing a mill-stone and transacting other business down the Hudson
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TOWN OF WRIGHT.
river. Having been delayed a few days beyond the time, upon his arrival at home, he found his intended bride had become the wife of another. Without doubt Becker found his sopus mill- stone far more profitable and staple than the fickle minded bride. He built a large stone house in after years, which still stands and is now owned and occupied by Anthony Delong, and which was occupied by the patriots of the neighborhood as a fortress during their struggle for liberty. Upon the door-lock is enstamped 1775, which without doubt is the date of the erec- tion of the building. Becker was commissioned Major of the Fifteenth Regiment and was in command of the Lower or Stone Fort upon the invasion of Johnson and Brant in 1780.
Sometime before the Revolution commenced, John Dominick came from New York City and settled in the eastern part of the town upon the farm now occupied by Isaac I. Barber, and caused no little commotion among his neighbors and the community after a few years by his peculiar religious tenets. He was, without doubt, the first Methodist in these parts, and owing to his deep interest in the Christian cause, and the excitable nature of the spirit that moved him, his neighbors and acquaintances concluded he was bewitched, and treated him accordingly-though not with that severity to which the Puritans subjected the unfortunate of their day. Dominick was taken to Dr. Multer, of Schoharie, whose skill was in the extermination of witches, in short, a witch doctor. The Methodistical Dominick insisted that he was not sick, nor possessed of witches or devils, and would not take the medicine the doctor prescribed. Multer was a large man, and when a patient refused to take his medi- cine, through the want of faith, or a knowledge of the inconsistency of the case, he threw the patient and poured his drugs down, contending that the witches were to be overcome by force. Dominick was thus served, and upon his closing his teeth and throwing the medicine from his mouth, the wise doctor concluded that the witches refused his mode of treatment, and a sound whipping was the only alternative. Poor Dominick, though a stout man, was but a child in the hands of Multer, and was forced to receive a sound thrashing with hickory gads, that the
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