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 65
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aloud, " Yea, Lord; Thou art mighty !" This unfamiliar beauty, and the order of these forma- tions, humbles our genius to acknowledge that Thou art also Wisdom !
The entrance to the cave is guarded by ma- sonry that we approach with gloomy forebod- ings, but which are soon dispelled by the inhala- tion of cool oxygen, that seems to exhilarate the lungs and awakens a lively curiosity to peer deeper into the walls of darkness. The rippling of crystal waters and musical sounds of distant water-falls, the now low and then lofty arches that overhang the foot-path, and faint sparkle of dim crystals and calcareous formations as the light approaches, lulls all fear of danger and creates an eagerness for discovery that makes us forget the fatigue that similar efforts would cause in explorations among familiar objects in the outside world.
One of the first attractions is " Musical Hall," where a whisper is reverberated with musical, and at first, pleasant effect. Any tone of voice is sent through the darkness with such distinct- ness and grandeur of action or vibration that one is silenced, so to speak, with reverence and humility. We stand appalled at the reverbera- tion of sound and anxiously pass on, that the tell-tale walls of Musical Hall might not waft an irreverent word or thought beyond their dim confines.
In passing along, each step awakens deeper interest, and must especially to the geological student, afford double pleasure. The visitor is soon confronted by a small sheet of water that is formed by loose rocks that have dammed the stream that has followed its " hidden path " and assisted to form one of the wonders of the world.
This is Stygian lake, to us inaptly called as its calm, pure sparkling water is in too great contrast to the seething fumes of the Ancients' fabled Styx. As the faint light overpowers the darkness that here crowds upon us, and reveals the sta- lactitical formations, that interest which we have felt before, is turned to solemn awe and won- der. Here, above we find pendent from the ceiling stalactites of every conceivable pattern, each differing in size and form. From each one a pearly drop of water is gathering to fall below and give place to another, and which has thus for ages been slowly and silently forming, to
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beautifully and artistically adorn as 'Prentice' says these
" dim and awful aisles,
Shut from the blue and breezy dome of heaven."
Beyond upon a lower ceiling they are found with less attraction, as nearness robs them of their beauty. But a few more strokes of the
oar reaches an elevated arch that again carries the mind to the far back centuries, and we can but ponder upon the extent of time that these larger specimens of Nature's handiwork has been forming. Here imitations of animate crea- tures are found, such as birds, beasts, branches of trees and a calcareous pile called Lot's wife.
CRYSTAL LAKE, HOWE'S CAVE.
She is represented as arrested upon the instant of her enjoying the last and forbidden retrospect of the doomed city of Sodom.
The rough and rugged rocks of the Rocky mountains inust be mounted to enable the stu- dent to study and the adventurer to claim a conquest. The hammer of the geologist is here allowed to click at his strokes in quest of aragonite, and from the lofty pile-beneath which the rippling water rushes-side chambers can be entered that are within themselves equally as curious and wonderful as the main cavern.
Descending to the brook again we push on
through spacious rooms and the " winding way" and we emerge into a circular room whose dome- like roof is, the guide will tell you, beyond the fiery rocket's reach. Within this space we are bade to extinguish the lights and sit in silence. What the light of the sun is to the taper, this darkness is compared with the darkness of the outer world. It is darkness profound; and when the torch is again lighted its feeble rays are greatfully appreciated. And thus we go on and on in narrow defiles and broad openings- beneath low ceilings and again lofty arches un- til passages diverge to narrow crevices-all filled with beauty and grandeur that are indescrib-
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able. Throughout are side openings that lead to other aisles-perhaps of greater length and equal beauty but not more impressive. The rushing of the waters, the thunders of distant waterfalls that send their reverberations through these apartments-the grand majesty of the rocks and inpenetrable darkness, all unite with the sermons so plainly written upon the whole that " God only is great" and to bow the soul in reverential awe !
In returning over the ground we find the " Chapel" was not noticed which is one of the interesting features of the cave. It is so called from a beautiful combination of stalactites fall- ing over a projecting rock at one extremity of the room and resembles an altar with its fringe and drapery .- Above is an opening in the roof of immense height and from its edge are in- numerable stalactites whose beauty can be ap- preciated only by a visit, and the aid of the gas- light that illuminates the cavern as far as the lake. Here many have retired to celebrate their bridal nuptials to give romance perhaps to imagined tragical scenes.
As we emerge from the cavern, how welcome is the light of day and as we gaze upon the beautiful scene around, the words of Prentice receive an echo from the heart when he says :-
" How oft we gaze
With awe and admiration on the new And unfamiliar, but pass coldly by The lovelier and the mightier ! Wonderful Is the lone world of darkness and of gloom, But far more wonderful yon outer world, Lit by the glorious sun. These arches swell Sublime in lone and dim magnificence. But how sublimer God's blue canopy Beleagued with his burning cherubim, Keeping their watch eternal.
PUNCHKILL.
In crossing the Cobleskill from " Howe's Cave," to the hillside, we soon come to the small hamlet that bears the humble name of Punchkill. The small rivulet that passes down the steep bank, and which, through ages, has worn a deep ravine to give wildness to the scene, was named Punchkill, as historian Simms tells us, by Johannes Lawyer, while surveying, from the fact that the party indulged in a draught of whiskey-punch upon its bank.
The hamlet was long known as "Schoharie Mountain," and " East Cobleskill," but, as if to retain the remembrance of the potent punch, those names have long since been dropped, and Punchkill " unanimously adopted."
An inn being erected here upon the building of the Loonenburgh Turnpike through the place in 1808, and a church the same year, an effort was made to found a village, but met with poor success. At one time it was a busy hamlet, but when the railroad was constructed in the valley below, it received a paralytic stroke, like all other hamlets along the line situated as this, from which it will never revive.
The first church built here was the "Re- * formed," and stood near the present Methodist site. After the "fathers" of this neighborhood worshipped within its plain walls forty years, they built the edifice to the west, and dedicated the same on the 27th of December, 1848. Upon building the new church at Braymanville, as we have noticed, the Christian denomination pur- chased the Second Reformed church building, and now occupy it, its pastorate being in con- nection with Warnerville and Richmondville.
The Methodist Church was connected in pas- torate with the Cobleskill Methodist church, up to the year 1866, it being the fifth class in the circuit of eight. A list of the pastors officiating previous to that date, can be seen by consulting the list of pastors of the Cobleskill church, and of late years those of Mineral Springs. The present edifice was built in 1846.
In the beginning of the century, the highway passing through this place from Cobleskill to Schoharie, was obstructed by gates and bars wherever the road crossed a farm line, as was nearly every road throughout the country. Upon the passage of the Legislative bill, authorizing the building of the Schoharie bridge, petitions were circulated among the townsmen for signa- tures, praying to the Road Commissioners to open the road "to the free and unobstructed travel of the publick."
The owners of the land refused to acceed to any demands, and openly prevented many from traveling over their lands, which awakened such a feeling against them, that a score or more of the townspeople appeared before the Grand
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Jury, with Jared Goodyear at their head, and obtained bills of indictment against them for "obstructing the highway with gates and bars."
The people were successful through Jedediah Miller, to sustain their charges, on the ground that the road had been in use as a public higli- way, for over twenty years, without molestation. This occurred about the year 1811.
In passing along to the west towards " Min- eral Springs," the visitor is charmed with the picturesque view that presents itself in looking up and down the valley. Here is a scene that is worthy the attention of both the lover of nature and of art. As the warm sunshine has a soft refreshing influence upon the earth after summer showers, so this scene refreshes and in- vigorates the spirit of adoration and wonder, that fills us in beholding the grandeur and bold- ness of the hills that surround it, and in travers- ing the winding aisles of the cave, and listening to the thunderings of its waterfalls, deep down in the bowels of the earth. It seems to be more of a panorama, upon which art, guided by the hand of the Omnipotent, has pictured nature in beauty and peace, without marks of a revenge- ful power, upheaving formations to give grand- eur, as if in contrast to the scene around it.
Along this road, it being then but a path, the early settlers of the Cobleskill cautiously and wearily traversed daily to and from their homes, to elude the wily savage and revengeful Tory, during the days that tried men's souls. How often did those troubled ones, while on their weary march, look back and forward to catch the last or first glimpse of their homes, to assure themselves they had such. And with what feeling of anguish they must have looked back on their flight on the second day of June, 1778, and seen the maddening flame lap up their labors of years, and heard the demoniac shriek of their savage victors, over the mangled corpses of fathers, sons and brothers !
MINERAL SPRINGS.
This little hamlet was for many years known as France's Corners, after Jacob France, an early settler. He was a son of Sebastian France, of Turlah, an honest man, and true patriot, who long since passed the sad ordeal of deatlı, leaving a large family to per-
petuate the name and profit by his worthy example. The waters of the spring being utilized for medicinal purposes by Mr. Simeon Deyo in 1867, at great expense, the name of the hamlet was changed to give eclat to the surroundings. Mr. Deyo did much to bring these waters to the notice of the public, but it was at a time when the country was laboring under the pains of civil war, and only old estab- lished watering places were patronized, and they but sparely. Of late years, the Cobleskill val- ley has become a familiar haunt for city pleasure seekers, of quiet temperament, and if the accommodations that Mr. Deyo furnished were standing they could but be profitably utilized.
Betsey or Elizabeth, the daughter of Sebas- tian France, and sister of Jacob, whom we noticed, was the companion of Miss Catharine Merckley the day she was assassinated in 1780, in Turlah. She married Paul Shank, who settled here and reared a large family. She died on the 27th of October, 1846, at the age of eighty-eight years. Paul Shank was a soldier under Cornwallis, and upon that General's surrendering his sword, Mr. Shank drifted to Watervliet and learned the tailor's trade. The France family living there at the time, he became acquainted with Elizabeth and married her at the close of the War, and settled upon the farm now occupied by David Kromer, and worked at his trade. The children were as follows :-
John, Sebastian,
.
David, Mrs. John Frazier, Mrs. Jacob France, Jr., Mrs. Peter France, Mrs. Henry Fox.
David is the only son living, and is in his eighty- first year of age. He has been for many years one of the chief supporters of the Methodist church, and an energetic business man. To him we are indebted for information in regard to the Methodist Church of Mineral Springs and Punchkill, whose records are but scraps, and not accessible.
Methodist Episcopal Church of Mineral Springs .- The first meeting for organization
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
was held October 28, 1844, and Samuel N. Wilber, David Borst, John Shank, David Shank, Daniel Shafer, Henry P. Shafer, and Harvey France, were elected trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at France's Corners.
The church edifice was built in the latter part of that year and the early part of 1845, and dedicated in May of the latter year. It was built during the pastorate of Revs. Pomeroy and Warner, but dedicated under that of Revs. Amos Osborn and Absalom Mosher, their fol- lowers, wlio officiated in 1846 and 1847. The successive pastors have been as follows :--
Amos Osborn and Samuel Covil, 1847-1848. Joel Squires and Z. Hurd, 1848-1849.
Joel Squires and William H. Tiffany, 1849- 1850.
J. Giddings and William Diefendorf, 1850- 1851.
Elisha Watson and Charles. Anderson, 1851- 1852.
Elisha Watson and Diefendorf, 1852-1853. A. Lyon and Andrew Heath, 1853-1854.
Andrew Heath and S. B. Gough, 1854-1855. Joseph Conner and Joseph Cope, 1855-1857. David Gould and S. S. Ford, 1858-1859.
Alvin Robbins and William J. Sands. 1860- 1861.
Hall and Hanna, 1862-1863.
A. D. Heath, 1864-1865.
Hiram Harris and Eli Baker, 1865-1866. Eli Baker, 1867.
Henry Wright, 1868-1869-1870.
William Earl, 1871-1872.
Jarvis Devol, 1873-1874.
William M. Stanley, 1875.
D. McShell, 1876.
Alfred Eaton, 1877-1878.
J. J. Austin, 1879 ; the present pastor.
The present officers are :-
Trustees :-
Harvey France, Lester France, Jameson Cheesbro.
Stewards :-
Harmon Robinson, Nelson France, Christian Bouck.
Recording Steward :- Nelson France.
Leaders :--
Harvey France, Jameson Cheesbro.
LAWYERSVILLE.
In the spring of 1760 there came a number of families from Rhinebeck upon the Hudson, and settled to the north and northwest of this hamlet, taking up lands that were then owned by Jurian Young, a resident of Albany county. The set- tlement was called New Rhinebeck, and a few, only, of the farms then taken, at present lie in the town of Cobleskill, but principally in Seward and Carlisle. The farm now belonging to the Engle Brothers is the principal one (at that time settled) in this neighborhood, and upon it John Conrad Engle and Johannes Yunk (now Young) settled, the latter taking the north and the former the south part of the farm.
Young was a cousin of Peter Young, the first settler of Carlisle, and his children were Benja- min, Ephraim, Gideon, Jonathan, Elias, David and Margaret, (Mrs. Abram Teater.)
Engle and Young were brothers-in-law, Engle having married Eva Maria, a sister of Young. The farm was occupied by the two families un- til the year 1801, when Gideon Young, the son, being in possession sold to Engle and removed to the present territory of Carlisle. From the two families that settled here has sprang the in- numerable families of Engle and Young that are to be found throughout the western part of the County and a vast army in the Western States.
Engle's children were :-
Anna, (Mrs. Hoffman, who was killed with her husband Michael Hoffman, in Turlah, by the Indians on the 10th of July, 1780). - Mathias, Anna Caroline, Kathrina, (Mrs. Tunis Kneiskern,) John William, Eva, John,
Elizabeth, Jergon, Margaret, (Mrs. Jacob Strobeck).
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The daughter Catharine, or Kathrina, was at the house of Michael Hoffman, in Seward, when the Indians approached to murder the family. She fled to the woods and from her concealment saw the double murder committed. Being frightened in the extreme, she fled through the forest, she knew not whither, and emerged upon the flats at Central Bridge. A few men work- ing in the field saw her running as if a lunatic, and giving chase caught her, but her fright was so great it was some time before they could calm her excitement to glean the facts of the cause of her fright. The distance she ran was at least ten miles, through an unbroken and trackless forest. It was one of the many acts of endur- ance, as well as providential escapes from ruth- less murderers that the patriots of the Revolu- tion were forced to experience in their struggle for liberty and independence. During their excit- ing lives that so often threatened to terminate in bloody tragedy, the hand of Providence frequently warded off the invader's blow and changed appalling scenes to pleasing romance.
In after years, when the deep forest's still- ness was no longer broken by the stealthy war- rior's whoop ; and venomous hate that had satu- rated Schoharie's soil alike with Patriot's and Tory's blood, was bound by the joyful procla- mation of peace to brotherly privileges and Christian acts, Teunis Kneiskern, of Kneis- kern's dorf, one of the young lady's captors in her fright, did a " wooing go" to the house of Conradt Engle, and claimed his captive as a bride. Long years of faithful, domestic service did she render to her husband, and reared a family whose pleasure it is to recount, in their old age, the story of their mother's escape from death. Teunis favored the cause of the Crown, with his brother Peter, of Carlisle, while his brothers Jacob and William were true and faith- ful advocates of freedom. The latter was taken prisoner at Myndert's (Moak's Hollow) by a band of Indians in the fall of 1780, and made his escape from Rebel Island by lashing two brandy kegs together and floating to the main land. During the war the Engle and Young families with many others sought safety at the Camps. The male portion occasionally returned to care for their personal effects.
The lands of this neighborhood are com-
prised in a Royal Grant bearing date 1730, by some people designated as New Dorlach patent and were chiefly owned by Johannes Lawyer, second, of Schoharie, and given by him, to Jo- hannes, the third, (in land succession) as stated in Chapter IV.
After the close of the Revolution, General James Dana of Connecticut, settled to the south of Engle's, upon lands now owned by Gilbert Dana, and was followed shortly by John Red- ington another Revolutionary soldier and sev- eral others from the Eastern States, of whom we will make mention hereafter, as their lives were useful and exemplary ones, and added much of interest to the history of our County.
The new settlement here formed and of which the pleasant hainlet of Lawyersville is the nucleus, being principally made up of Eastern patriots, it bore the name of New Boston for many years.
Another name was applied to the place in after years by many, which may still be heard from the old people. It being upon the Royal Patent granted to Goldbrow and Banyar and others, in 1752, and which lay wholly in the old town of Cobleskill, this place was designated as the Patent and Cobleskill Patent, as well as by its present name Lawyersville.
There not being any Revolutionary incidents connected with this neighborhood more than the part taken by the heroes that settled here we will review their lives to which are justly due, our honor and veneration.
James Dana was born in Ashford, Connecti- cut, on the 10th of October, 1732, O. S, and was a meritorious officer in the struggle for lib- erty. Isaac Hall Tiffany, a legal gentleman, living here, in the early days of the settlement, and a neighbor of General Dana, left a manu- script relating to Dana's life, and dictated by him, of which we were fortunate to procure a copy. It reads as follows :-
" He appears to have commenced his military career among the provincial troops under Sir William Johnson. He assisted in building the fort at Lake George, and was at the battle of · Lake Champlain, when the fortification was attacked by the French, and General Johnson wounded.
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
" At the commencement of the Revolution, he was a captain in Colonel Storrs' regiment in General Putnam's brigade of Connecticut militia. He arrived at the American camp at Cambridge where General Ward commanded immediately after the affair at Lexington.
" He was among the troops ordered to throw up a breast-work on Bunker Hill. A half- moon fortification of facines and dirt was erected during the night.
"Colonel Prescott was the engineer and re- quested Dana's Orderly-Sergeant to assist in laying out the fortification.
"When the second division of 500 troops landed, they marched up Malden river to gain the rear of the American fortification. This movement was perceived by Captain Dana and communicated to General Putnam. By his orders 500 of the Connecticut troops were marched down and took up their position and formed two deep behind a fence. Captain (afterwards Colonel) Knowlton commanded this detach- ment.
"Dana was second in command. Putnam in giving his orders, said to these officers, ‘Do you remember my orders at Ticonderoga ?' ' Yes,' was the reply. 'You told us not to fire until we could see the whites of the enemy's eyes.' 'Well' said Putnam, 'I give the same orders now.' The British advanced with muffled drums and soft fifes and the officers and soldiers got over the fence, south of the American lines. Cap- tain Dana was posted in the center, towards which the British column was advancing. The order was 'Death to any man who fired before Captain Dana.' When the column was eight rods distant, Dana ordered the rear rank down flat ; at this word the British officer faced about and ordered the column to deploy from the center. At that instant Captain Dana, Lieu- tenant Grosvenor and Orderly-Sergeant Fuller fired and the British commanding officer (sup- posed to be Major Pitcairn) fell mortally wounded. The British troops broke and re- treated, formed and advanced again-which probably occupied thirty minutes. When they arrived at the fence againthey fired; Lieutenant Grosvenor was wounded in the hand and a bul- let also passed through a rail and lodged in his shirt, flatted and harmless 1 Captain Knowl-
ton's musket barrel was broken off by a cannon ball and a like ball struck a rail against Dana's breast which knocked him down breathless. He however recovered and remained until the line was ordered off.
" When he arrived at his quarters he was confined to his room and unable to dress or un- dress himself for several days. The first counter- sign given by General Washington after the battle of Bunker Hill was 'Knowlton' and the parole ' Dana.' In July after, an oration was delivered by Dr. Leonard, Washington's chaplain.
" After the oration and declaration had been pronounced, an Aid of General Washington ad- vanced from the headquarters bearing the Amer- ican standard, with an order from the General, directed to Captain Dana to receive it and carry it three times around the front or interior circle of the army ; furthermore, that in so doing he must not let the colors fall, as it would be con- sidered as ominous of the fall of America. The Captain declined, fearful of his ability to per- form this duty in a proper manner. The Aid returned to headquarters with the apology, but soon came back with General Putnam, who, in his familiar way, clapped Captain Dana upon the shoulder and said, 'God curse it, Dana, you look like a white man ; take the colors and clear away.' The army immediately opened a pas- sage to the right and left for his excellency, General Washington, and the other officers. The next day the General in his orders ex- pressed the most flattering approbation of the manner in which Captain Dana had performed the ceremony of displaying the flag. Captain Dana was six feet and one inch in height, noble and commanding in his appearance, but modest aud retiring in his manners. He was frequently offered promotion in the army, but uniformly declined. The celebrated General Eaton, after- wards so distinguished in the war with Tripoli, was, at the age of fifteen, his waiter and secre- tary. He was put under Captain Dana at the request of his father. After the close of the Revolution Dana removed to Cobleskill, where che occupied a small log house till his death.
" Notwithstanding his humble circumstances, the Legislature of New York, in consequence of his meritorious services in the Revolution, ap-
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pointed him Brigadier-General, being the first who held that office in the County of Scho- harie."
General Dana's log cabin stood at the bend in the road between Barney Ottman's and Abram Shutts' residences, on the east side of the road, where he died on the 16th of October, 1817, at the age of eighty-five.
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