USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 32
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
From the house of Barney Hansen, the enemy proceeded to that of Col. Fisher, where Adam Zielie now resides, and where, too, they were disappointed in not finding any of the family : plunder-
*Ca-daugh.ri-ty, is aa Indian word, and signifies The Steep Bank, back wall, or perpendicular wall! In the southeast part of Glen is a high bank on the Schoharie, a mile or two from its mouth or the ancient Fort Hunter, occasion- ed by an extensive slide at least one hundred years ago, the Indian name for which originated at the time.
350
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
ing and setting it on fire, they hastened onward to the Fisher homestead, where they arrived just at daylight. Among the plun- der made at Hansen's, was the clothing of young Putman, and as the Indians threw away such articles as they considered useless, he followed them at a distance, recovering and putting on his ap- parel as fast as rejected. He obtained the last of it near the dwelling of Col. Fisher-entering which he discovered it to be on fire. Looking for pails he found several which the enemy had broken, but a further search discovered a tub of sour milk : this he drew near the fire, and throwing it on the flames, with his hands extinguished them-not, however, until a large hole had been burned entirely through the floor. This house was consumed in October following.
About twenty of the enemy first arrived at the old Fisher place, and attempted to force an entrance by cutting in the door, but be- ing fired upon from a window by the intrepid inmates, they re- treated round a corner of the house, where they were less exposed. the main body of the enemy, nearly three hundred in number, ar- rived soon after and joined in the attack. The brothers defended the house for some length of time after the enemy gained entrance below, and a melee followed in the stairway, on their attempting to ascend. Several balls were fired up through the floor,-the lower room not being plastered over head, which the brothers avoided by standing over the large timbers which supported it. At this period the sisters escaped from the cellar-kitchen, and fled to the woods not far distant. They were met in their flight by a party of savages, who snatched from the head of one, a bonnet ; and from the bosom of the other a neckerchief-but were allowed to escape unhurt. Mrs. Fisher, about to follow her daughters from the house, was stricken down at the door by a blow on the head from the but of a musket, and left without being scalped.
The brothers returned the fire of their assailants for a while with spirit, but getting out of ammunition their castle was no longer tenable ; and Harman, jumping from a back window, at- tempted to escape by flight. In the act of leaping a garden fence, a few rods from the house, he was shot, and there killed and scalp-
351
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
ed. As the enemy ascended the stairs, Col. Fisher discharged a pistol he held in his hand, and calling for quarters, threw it behind him in token of submission. An Indian, running up, struck him a blow on the head with a tomahawk, which brought him to the floor. He fell upon his face, and the Indian took two crown scalps from his head, which no doubt entitled him to a double re- ward, then giving him a gash in the back of the neck, he turned him and attempted to cut his throat, which was only prevented by his cravat, the knife penetrating just through the skin. His broth- er, Capt. Fisher, as the enemy ascended the stairs, retreated to one corner of the room, in which was a quantity of peas, that he might there repel his assailants. An Indian, seeing him armed with a sword, hurled a tomahawk at his head, which brought him down. He was then killed outright, scalped as he lay upon the grain, and there left. The house was plundered, and then set on fire, (as stated by Wm. Bowen, who returned after the war,) with a chemi- cal match, conveyed upon the roof by an arrow.
Leaving the progress of the distructives for a time, let us follow the fortunes of Col. Fisher. After the enemy had left, his con- sciousness returned, and as soon as strength would allow, he as- certained that his brother John was dead. From a window he discovered that the house was on fire, which no doubt quickened his exertions. Descending, he found his mother near the door, faint from the blow dealt upon her head, and too weak to render him any assistance. With no little effort the colonel succeeded in remov- ing the body of his brother out of the house, and then assisted his mother, who was seated in a chair,* the bottom of which had al- ready caught fire, to a place of safety ; and having carried out a bed, he laid down upon it, at a little distance from the house, in a state of exhaustion. Tom, a black slave, belonging to Adam Zielie, was the first neighbor to arrive at Fisher's. He enquired of the colonel what he should do for him ? Fisher could not speak, but signified by signs his desire for water. Tom ran down to the
* This chair is preserved as a sacred relic by the De Graff family, at the Visscher house.
352
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
Da-de-nos-ca-ra,* a brook running through a ravine a little distance east of the house, and filling his old hat, the only substitute for a vessel at hand, he soon returned with it ; a drink of which restored the wounded patriot to consciousness and speech. His neighbor, Joseph Clement, arrived at Fisher's while the colonel lay upon the bed, and on being asked by Tom Zielie what they should do for him, unblushingly replied in Low Dutch, “ Laat de vervlukten rabble starven!" Let the cursed rebel die !
Tom, who possessed a feeling heart, was not to be suaded from his Samaritan kindness, by the icy coldness of his tory neighbor, and instantly set about relieving the suffering man's condition. Uriah Bowen arrived about the time Tom returned with the wa- ter, and assisted in removing the dead and wounded farther from the burning building. Col. Fisher directed Tom to harness a span of colts, then in a pasture near, (which, as the morning was very foggy, had escapped the notice of the enemy,) before a wagon, and take him to the river at David Putman's. The colts were soon harnessed, when the bodies of the murdered brothers, and those of Col. Fisher and his mother, were put into the wagon, (the two latter upon a bed,) and it moved forward. The noise of the wagon was heard by the girls, who came from their concealment to learn the fate of the family, and join the mournful groupe. When the wagon arrived near the bank of the river, several tories were pres- ent, who refused to assist in carrying the Fishers down the bank to a canoe, whereupon Tom took the colts by their heads, and led them down the bank; and what was then considered remarkable, they went as steadily as old horses, although never before har- nessed. The family were taken into a boat and carried across the river to Ephraim Wemple's, where every attention was paid them. When a person is scalped, the skin falls upon the face so as to dis- figure the countenance ; but on its being drawn up on the crown of the head, the face resumes its natural look ; such was the case with Col. Fisher, as stated by an eye witness.
* Da-de·nos-ca-ra or Da-da-nus-ga-ra, " means literally, bearded trees, or tress with excrescences or tufts to them." (Giles F. Yates. Esq.) Lands ad- joining this stream were originally timbered with hemlock and black ash, which originated the significant name.
353
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
Seeing the necessity of his having proper medical attention, Col. Fisher's friends on the south side of the river, sent him for- ward in the canoe by trusty persons, to Schenectada, where he ar- rived just at dark the same day of his misfortune. There he re- ceived the medical attendance of Doctors Mead of that place, Stringer, of Albany, and two Surgeons, belonging to the U. S. army. His case was for some time a critical one, and he did not recover as was anticipated ; but on turning him over, the reason why he did not was obvious. The wound inflicted by the scalping knife in the back of the neck, had escaped the observa- tion of his attendants, and the flies getting into it, and depositing their larva, had rendered it an offensive sore, but on its being pro- perly dresesd, the patient recovered rapidly. At the time Col. Fisher received his wounds, Nicholas Quackenboss previously mentioned, happened to be at Albany, purchasing fish and other necessaries, and on learning that his neighbor was at Schenectada, called, on his way home, to see him. On enquiring of Fisher how he did, the latter, placing his hand on his wounded head, replied in Dutch, " Well, Nicholas, you've had your wish !" The reader must not suppose, from what took place between Fisher and Quackenboss, at the two interviews named, that the former at the time of remov- ing his family, was in possession of any intelligence of the enemy unknown to his neighbors. It was then notorious in the valley that an invasion was to be apprehended.
Several attempts were made to capture Col. Fisher during the war, which proved abortive. After he recovered, he gave the faithful negro* who had treated him so kindly when suffering un- der the wounds of the enemy, a valuable horse. Gov. George Clinton, as a partial reward for his sufferings and losses in the war, appointed Col. Fisher a brigadier general; but refusing to equip himself, his commission, which was dated February 6, 1787, was succeeded on the 7th of March following, by his ap-
· Tom afterwards lived in Schoharie county, where he was much respect- ed for his industrious habits, and where at a good old age he died. After his removal to Schoharie, he usually paid Col. Fisher a visit every year, when he received substantial evidence of that patriot's gratitude.
354
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
pointment of first judge of the Montgomery county common pleas.
After the war was over, a party of Indians on their way to Albany halted a day or two at Caughnawaga, among whom was the one who had tomahawked and scalped Col. Fisher, in 1780, leaving him for dead. This Indian could not credit the fact of his being still alive, as he said he had himself cut his throat ; and was desirous of having occular demonstration of his exist- ence, and possibly would have been gratified by the family, but information having reached the ears of the colonel that his tor- mentor was in the valley, a spirit of revenge fired his breast, and himself and John Stoner, then living with him, who, in the mur- der of his father, had some reason for not kindly greeting those sons of the forest ; having prepared several loaded guns, the friends of the family very properly warned the Indian and his fel- lows, not to pass the house within rifle shot distance; which hint was duly taken, and serious consequences thus avoided. Judge Fisher-a living monument of savage warfare-was an active and useful citizen of the Mohawk valley for many years, and died of a complaint in the head-caused, as was supposed, by the loss of his scalp, on the 9th day of June, 1809. His widow, whose maiden name was Gazena De Graff, died in 1815.
Some years after the Revolution, Judge Fisher, or Visscher, as it is now written by several of the family, to whom the homestead reverted on the death of his brothers, erected a substantial brick dwelling over the ashes of his birth place, where he spent the evening of his days amid, the associations of youthful pleasure and manly suffering. This desirable farm residence, a view of which is shown in the plate opposite, is pleasantly situated on a rise of ground in the town of Mohawk, several miles east of Fonda, Montgomery county. It is given the Indian name of the adjoin- ing creek, in the hope of preserving that name. Between the house and the river, which it fronts, may be seen the Mohawk turnpike, and the track of the Utica and Schenectada railroad. The place is now owned and occupied by Mr. De Graff, who mar- ried a grand-daughter of its former patriotic proprietor.
. F
DADENOSCARA PLACE · JUDGE VISSCHER MANSION
357
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
From this digression, let us return to the war-path of the ene- my. They captured three negroes and a wench belonging to the Fisher family ; burnt Fisher's barn, and in it, as supposed, their own dead, killed by the brothers ; from whence they proceeded to the dwelling of Barney Wemple, a little farther up the river- which was rifled and burnt with the out-buildings attached. Wemple had sent a slave, before daylight, to catch horses, who, hearing the firing, and discovering the light of the burning build- ings down the valley, ran to the house and gave the appalling in- telligence that a sleepless foe was near. Thus alarmed, the fami- ly fled, almost naked, into a small swamp, just in time to escape the tomahawk. Wemple erected a dwelling on the site of his former one, soon after it was burnt, which shared a similar fate during Johnson's invasion of the valley the following October. In their course up the river, the enemy also burnt the out-build- ings of Peter Conyne, the dwelling of John Wemple, and possi- bly one or two others. Arriving at Caughnawaga, the destruc- tion of property was renewed. Douw Fonda, who removed from Schenectada and settled at that place, about the year 1751, (the same year in which Harman Fisher settled below,) was an aged widower, and resided, at the time of which I am writing, with a few domestics, in a large stone dwelling with wings, which stood on the flats between the present turnpike and the river, a few rods east of the road now leading to the bridge. It had beeu the in- tention of the citizens to fortify this dwelling, and it was partially surrounded by strong pickets. Fonda's three sons, John,* Jelles, and Adam, also good whigs, were living in the neighborhood.
. At the commencement of hostilities, he had some difficulty with Alexan- der White, sheriff of Tryon county, about their hogs and cattle breaking in apon each others premises, which resulted in a quarrel, in which White called Fonda a d-d rebel ; and the latter, provoked to anger, did not scruple to give his majesty's peace officer a severe caning : the result was, White took Fonda to the Johnstown jail. The citizens in a mob soon after proceeded to the jail and liberated Fonda, and attempted to secure the person of the sheriff, then at the village inn kept by Mattice. Armed with a double-barreled gun, White fired several times on the assailants from an upper window, and then secreted himself in a chimney, where he remained while the patriot party, who had forced an entrance, were in the house. Soon after, sheriff White,
358
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
Jelles Fonda* resided a short distance below the Caughnawaga church, owning a large dwelling and store, which stood where C. Hempsted now resides. At the time of this invasion, he was ab- sent on public business. About a week previous, he sent part of his family and effects in a bateau to Schenectada, to which place they were accompanied by the wife and children of John Fonda. The wife of Major Fonda and her son Douw, were at home, how- ever, on that morning. Hearing the firing at Fisher's, and dis- covering the light of the burning buildings below, Mrs. Fonda and her son fled to the river near, where there was a ferry. Re- maining in the ferry-boat, she sent Douw to get two horses, and being gone some time, her fears were excited lest he had been captured. As her apprehensions for her son's safety increased, she called him repeatedly by name. He returned with the horses and they began to cross the river, but had hardly reached its cen- tre, when several of the enemy, attracted to the spot by her voice, arrived on the bank they had left. A volley of balls passed over the boat without injuring its inmates, and leaving it upon the south shore, they mounted their horses, and directed their course towards Schenectada, where they safely arrived in due time.
Adam Fonda, at the time of Johnson's invasion, resided near the Cayadutta creek, where Douw Fonda now does. Arriving at Adam Fonda's, the enemy made him a prisoner, and fired his dwelling. Margaret, (Peggy, as she was called,) the widow of Barney Wemple, lived near Fonda, and where Mina Wemple now
whose official authority was now at an end, was smuggled from Johnstown in a large chest by his political friends ; and his wife shortly after followed his fortunes to Canada. The dwelling vacated by White, was owned at his death by Sir Wm. Johnson, and stood on the present site of the Montgomery county court house in Fonda : this dwelling was occupied by John Fonda af- terwards .- Mrs. Evert Yates, daughter of John Fonda.
* Mr. Fonda had seen service in the French war under Sir Wm. Johnson, had for many years been extensively engaged in merchandising, was a cap- tain and afterwards major of militia in the Revolution ; and was much of that period in the commissary department. He was a man of wealth, influence and respectability, and at the beginning of colonial difficulties, had the most flattering inducements offered him to side with royalty, which he promptly rejected.
359
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
lives, at which place she then kept a public house. The enemy making her son, Mina, a prisoner, locked her up in her own dwelling and set it on fire. From an upper window, she made the valley echo to her cries of murder and help, which brought some one to her relief. Her voice arrested the attention of John Fonda, who sent one of his slaves round the knoll which former- ly stood west of the Fonda Hotel, to learn the cause of alarm ; but hardly had the slave returned, before the enemy's advance from both parties was there also, making Fonda a prisoner, and burning his dwelling.
The eastern party, on arriving at the dwelling of Maj. Fonda, plundered and set it on fire. There were then few goods in his store ; but his dwelling contained some rare furniture for that pe- riod, among which was a musical clock, that at certain hours per- formed three several tunes. The Indians would have saved this house for the great respect they had for its owner, but their more than savage allies, the tories, insisted on its destruction. As the devouring element was consuming the dwelling, the clock began to perform, and the Indians, in numbers, gathered round in mute astonishment, to listen to its melody. They supposed it the voice of a spirit, which they may have thought was pleased with them for the manner in which they were serving tyranny. Of the plunder made at this dwelling, was a large circular mirror, which a citizen in concealment saw, first in the hands of a squaw, but it being a source of envy it soon passed into the hands of a stout Indian-not however without a severe struggle on her part. The Indians were extravagantly fond of mirrors, and it is not unlikely this costly one was broken in pieces and divided between them. Among the furniture destroyed in the house, was a marble table on which stood the statue of an Indian, whose head rested on a pivot, which, from the slightest motion was continually-
" Niding, nodding, and nid, nid nodding."
Neither the parsonage, which stood a little north of the present one, or the church at Caughnawaga, were harmed. Dr. Romeyn, then its pastor, was from home. Mrs. Romeyn, as she was flee-
24
360
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
ing up the hill north of her house with her family, carrying two children, was seen by the Indians who laughed heartily at the ludicrous figure she presented, without offering to molest her, un- less possibly by an extra whoop.
When the alarm first reached the family of Douw Fonda, Pene- lope Grant, a Scotch girl living with him, to whom the old gen- tleman was much attached, urged him to accompany her to the hill whither the Romeyn family were fleeing; but the old patriot had become childish, and seizing his gun he exclaimed-" Pene- lope, do you stay here with me-I will fight for you to the last drop of blood!" Finding persuasion of no avail, she left him to his fate, which was indeed a lamentable one; for soon the enemy arrived, and he was led out by a Mohawk Indian, known as One Armed Peter (he having lost an arm) toward the bank of the river, where he was tomahawked and scalped. As he was led from the house, he was observed by John Hansen, a prisoner, to have some kind of a book and a cane in his hand. His murderer had often partaken of his hospitality, having lived for many years in his neighborhood. When afterwards reproved for this murder, he replied that as it was the intention of the enemy to kill him, he thought he might as well get the bounty for his scalp as any one else! Mr. Fonda had long been a warm personal friend of Sir William Johnson, and it is said that Sir John much regretted his death, and censured the murderer. This Indian, Peter, was the murderer of Capt. Hansen, on the same morning. With the plunder made at Douw Fonda's were four male slaves and one female, who were all taken to Canada. Several other slaves were of the plunder made in the neighborhood, and doubtless be- came incorporated with the Canada Indians .*
An incident of no little interest is related by an eye witness from the hill, as having occurred in this vicinity on the morning
· The preceding facts relating to this invasion were obtained from Daniel Visscher and John Fisher, sons of Col. Fr. Fisher ; Mrs. Margaret Putman, a sister of Col. Fisher ; Angelica, daughter of Capt. Henry Hansen, and widow of John Fonda ; Catharine, daughter of John Fonda, late the wife of Evert Yates ; Peter, a son of Cornelius Putman ; Volkert Voorhees ; Cornelius, on of Barney Wemple ; David, son of Adam Zielie ; and John S. Quackenboss.
361
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
of this invasion. A little distance in advance of the enemy, a man was seen in a wagon which contained several barrels, urging his horses forward. Despairing of making his escape with the wa- gon, he abandoned it, and mounting one of his horses he drove to the river, into which they plunged and swam across with him in safety. On reaching the wagon, the barrels were soon found to contain rum, which had been destined to one of the frontier forts. Knocking in the head of a cask, the Indians were beginning to drink and gather round with shouts of merriment, when a British officer dressed in green came up, and with a tomahawk hacked the barrels in pieces, causing the liquor to run upon the ground, to the mortification of his tawny associates, who dispersed with evident displeasure .- Mrs. Penelope Forbes. Her maiden name was Grant.
The enemy, led by Col. Johnson in person, on their way to Caughnawaga, plundered and burned the dwellings of James Da- vis, one Van Brochlin and Sampson Sammons .- Mrs. John Fon- da. Sammons with his sons, Jacob, Frederick and Thomas, were captured, but himself and youngest son, Thomas, were set at lib- erty : the other two were carried to Canada. For an account of their sufferings, see Life of Brant.
Cornelius Smith, who lived two miles west of Major Fonda, on the morning of Johnson's invasion, was going to mill,* and called just after daylight at Johannes Veeder's. The latter was then at Schenectada, but his son, Simon, (afterwards a judge of Mont- gomery county,) who resided with him, was at home, and had arisen. On his way to Veeder's, Smith had discovered the smoke of the Sammons dwelling, but being unable to account for it, continued his journey, and was captured just below. Mr. Veeder, who had accompanied Smith toward the road from hearing the dis- charge of musketry down the valley, soon after his neighbor was out of sight, beheld to his surprise a party of Indians approach- ing him from that direction ; upon which he ran to his house,
· A small grist mill, which stood near the present site of the district school house in Fonda. This mill was inclosed by palisades in the latter part of the war, to serve the purposes of a fort.
362
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
(which stood a little distance above the present village of Fonda, where a namesake now resides,) pursued by them. He alarmed his family, which consisted of Gilbert Van Deusen, Henry Vroo- man, a lame man, and James Terwilleger, a German; and seve- ral women and slaves. The three men snatched each a gun and fled from a back door, Vrooman with his boots in his hand; and as Veeder, minus a hat, was following them with a gun in each hand, the enemy opened the front door. They leveled their guns but did not fire, supposing, possibly, that he would be intimidated and surrender himself a prisoner. As Veeder left the house, the women fled down cellar for safety. The fugitives had to pass a board fence a few rods from the house, and as Veeder was leaping it, several of the enemy fired on him, three of their balls passing through the board beneath him. One of his comrades drew up to return the fire, but Veeder, fearing it might endanger the safe- ty of the women, would not permit him to. The house was then plundered, and after removing the women from the cellar, an act, I suppose, of an Indian acquaintance, the house was fired, and with it several out buildings. The dwellings of Abraham Veeder, Col. Volkert Veeder, that of Smith already named, and those of two of the Vroomans, situated above, also shared a similar fate, and became a heap of ruins .- Volkert, a son of Simon Veeder.
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.