USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 35
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The greater part of the Schoharie prisoners were taken to Ni- agara, where they remained until November : when they proceed- ed in a vessel down Lake Ontario. A new ship, called the Sene- ca, left Niagara at the same time with the commandant of that garrison, and three hundred and sixty soldiers on board. Not long after they sailed, a terrible storm arose, and in the following night, the Seneca foundered and all on board were lost. The ves- sel contained a large quantity of provisions destined for Montreal, which were also lost. The prisoners were conveyed down the St. Lawrence in bateaus; and some of them suffered much for the want of suitable clothing, being barefooted, although the ground was covered with snow where they encamped on shore over night. They arrived at Montreal about the first of Decem- ber; from which place, after a few weeks stay, they were re- moved nine miles farther, to an old French post, called South Ra- kela, where they were confined until the summer following, and then exchanged for other prisoners. While confined at the latter place, their provisions consisted, for the most part, of salt-beef- not always of the best kind-and oat-meal; the latter being boiled into puddings and eaten with molasses. When an ex- change was effected, most of the Schoharie prisoners, with others, were sent on board a vessel to the head of Lake Champlain, where they were landed, and from which place they returned home on foot, via. Saratoga. They arrived at Schoharie on the
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30th day of August, after an absence of little more than a year. Mr. Hager was gone about eighteen months .*
· The particulars relating to the destruction of Vrooman's Land, and the captivity of the citizens, so minutely detailed, were obtained from Tunis, a son of Capt. Tunis Vrooman ; Josias E. and Bartholomew E., sons of Lieut. Ephraim Vrooman ; Maria, daughter of John Vrooman, and afterwards the wife of Frederick Mattice, who were captives at the time ; the manuscript of Henry Hager ; Mrs. Susannah Van Slyck, daughter of Samuel Vrooman ; An- gelica, daughter of Col. Peter Vrooman, afterwards the wife of Major Peter Vrooman ; Lawrence Bouck and Lawrence Mattice.
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CHAPTER XIII.
An affair of love : for Cupid was unchained even in perilous times. Timothy Murphy, who so providentially escaped from the enemy in Sullivan's campaign, returned to Schoharie in the sum- mer of 1780. While on duty there in the fall and winter of 1778 and spring of 1779, Murphy became acquainted with-yes, ena- mored with-Miss Margaret, daughter of John Feeck, whose house was inclosed at the Upper fort. She was an only child, and at that period was considered, in prospective wealth, the richest girl in the Schoharie settlements.
Perhaps the reader would be gratified with a brief outline of the personal appearance of a young lady, whose artless smiles could, at the age of fifteen or sixteen, win the affections of a rough soldier, and cause him, at the earliest opportunity, to transfer the services he considered due his country, to the fertile valley in which she dwelt. The writer has conversed with not a few who were well acquainted with her, several of whom were numbered among her most intimate female friends, all of whom ascribe to her the character of a virtuous and amiable girl.
At the period of which I am writing, she had just passed "sweet seventeen," and was entering her eighteenth year ; a period in the life of woman peculiarly calculated to convey and receive tender impressions. She was rather tall, and slim ; possessing a genteel form, with a full bust ; and features, if not handsome, at least pretty and very insinuating. Her hair was a rich auburn ; her eyes a dark hazel, peering from beneath beautiful eye-lashes ; her teeth clean and well set ; her nosc-but alas ! that was large, and , altogether too prominent a nasal organ to grace the visage of a
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perfect beauty. Her ruby lips and peach-colored cheeks, how- ever, contrasted charmingly with her clear white skin, besides, nature had given her, what all men like to see, a neatly turned ankle. Miss Feeck's literary acquirements, we must conclude, were limited. She had not been sent to a fashionable boarding school, and instructed in the genteel and desirable arts, to the en- tire exclusion, indeed abhorrence, of a practical knowledge of domestic household duties, as is too often the case at the present day. She, however, possessed a good share of common sense, was not too vain to be instructed, and practically understood house- keeping. Uniting, as she did, a very amiable disposition with her other good qualities, it is not surprising that she won the soldier's affections, and proved to him an agreeable and happy companion.
Murphy, who was twelve years the senior of Miss Feeck, was a stout, well made man, with rather a large body and small limbs, was not quite as tall as his lady-love, but was handsomely fea- tured, having jet black hair, black eyes, and a skin shaded in the same dye. He possessed great muscular power, was fleet on foot, and wary in the covert as an Indian. He indulged too much in profane levity-was passionate, and often rough-tongued ; but was warm-hearted and ardent in his attachment, and proved him- self a kind and indulgent husband, an obliging neighbor and wor- thy citizen. He returned to Schoharie soon after the enemy de- solated Vrooman's Land.
He had been back but a short time before it became apparent that what had, at an earlier day, seemed only a partiality on his part, and a juvenile perference on hers-won, perhaps, by his " deeds of noble daring"-was ripening into ardent, reciprocal love. But when did love's torrent ever flow smoothly on ? As soon as their mutual preference became known to the parents of Miss Feeck, every effort was made by them to prevent the young lovers from meeting ; and when they did chance to steal an inter- view, which sometimes happened when duty called him from the Middle to the Upper fort, it was, of necessity, brief and unsatisfac- tory. Every effort was made by the parents to prevent those in- terviews, and Margaret was prohibited from leaving her father's
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house, alone, on any account. Indeed, she was not allowed to go out of the picketed inclosure to milk, unless a vigilant cousin, or some member of the family attended her -- while Murphy was for- bidden to enter the house under any pretext. The couple were plighted, but a serious obstacle interposd between them and Hy- men's altar. The law then required the publishing of the banns for several Sabbaths in a religious meeting. Those marriage pro- posals were usually read by a clergyman, but as the Schoharie flocks were left to the mercy of the wolves, that of Murphy and his affianced was publicly read for several successive Sabbaths by John Van Dyck, (a good old deacon, living in the vicinity,) at a conference meeting held at the Middle fort, a certificate of which ceremony was placed in the hands of the groom.
Cupid is seldom wanting in stratagems, and agents to execute them. Although it had been contemplated by the parents to con- fine Margaret in a small room of the house, and she was so close- ly observed, still Murphy found repeated opportunities to nullify the paternal edict of non-intercourse, and communicate with his betrothed-not by letter, for he could not write-but through the agency of a trusty female named Maria Teabout, who was, as I have elsewhere stated, part native. Maria was the bearer of five or six verbal messages between the couple. As she was about to start on one of those errands, expressing some fear about her own safety, Murphy, whose character she almost venerated for the act, placed his hand upon her head, and repeating a few words-no doubt a lingo of his own, as he was at no loss for words-told her that no harm would ever befal her if she proved faithful to him. She assigned as a reason why she escaped injury or capti- vity in the war, the protection invoked at that time. As every thing was in a state of preparation for consummating their hap- piness, on a certain day about the 1st of October, 1780, Maria was sent with the final message from Murphy to his sweetheart- which was, in substance, Come, for all things are now ready. A' report had some time before reached the ears of Margaret's pa- rents, that she had engaged to marry Murphy ; which report,. in answer to their interrogatories, she denied, hoping by white lies
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to lull their suspicions. Still their vigilance was not relaxed, and it was with no little difficulty Maria found an opportunity at this time to inform Margaret, that her lover had the necessary certifi- cate of publication, and would meet her that evening near the ri- ver, with a horse, and convey her to the Middle fort. The answer · to Murphy's last message was brief and artless ; "Tell him," said Margaret, "I will meet him near the river, at the time appointed."
The day designated for a meeting with her lover, was one of no little anxiety to Margaret. The thought of leaving the home of her childhood against the wishes of her parents-possibly for- ever, and uniting her future destiny with that of a poor, though brave soldier, whose life was surrounded with constant danger, to say nothing of future prospects, was one of serious moment, as may be imagined, to a reflecting mind. But love will brave every danger, and encounter every hardship. In the course of the day she had matured her plan for eluding the vigilance of her parents, who little suspected her intended elopement; and with impatience she awaited the setting sun. Margaret dared not change an article of apparel, as that would excite suspicion, and in any thing but a bridal dress, she went at the evening hour for milking, to per- form that duty, accompanied as usual by a neighboring female cousin on the same errand. The task accomplished, the girls se- parated, her cousin to go to her own home at a little distance from the fort, and our heroine to the presence of her mother. On ar- riving with her pail of milk, some of which had been emptied upon the ground, she told her mother that one of the cows, it not being with the rest, had not been milked .- "Then," said her mother, "you must go after it, that cow must be milked." This was placing matters precisely as she desired, and taking another pail she left the house with a light heart-barefooted, the better to disguise her real object. Hanging her pail upon a stake at the cow-yard, she stole away unobserved in the direction of the river, and was soon concealed from observation by the darkness then fast obscuring the Onistagrawa. Murphy, "as the evening shades prevailed," accompaned by three of his trusty comrades well armed, left the Middle fort, crossed the river and proceeded
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along its western bank to meet his intended. Having gone full two-thirds of the way to the Upper fort, and above where she was to await his arrival, without meeting her, he began to apprehend his plan had proven abortive, and that her parents-aware of her intention-had taken proper means to prevent her leaving home. Satisfied in his mind that such was the case, he began to retrace his steps,-gently calling her name as he with his friends pro- ceeded homeward. On arriving just below the present site of the Middleburgh bridge, great was his surprise to hear her sweet voice respond to his call from the opposite shore of the river. Fearing she might be followed, our heroine had not stopped where her lover had agreed to seek her, but went forward. Not meet- ing him, she supposed some military duty had called him away, and believing her intention to leave home had already been dis- covered, by finding the cow in the yard and the pail near, she re- solved to proceed alone to the Middle fort, and had actually forded the Schoharie, the water at the time being quite cold, before the voice of Murphy greeted her ear. On his crossing the river, she mounted the horse behind him, and they rode to the fort where they were heartily welcomed by its inmates, about eight o'clock in the evening.
Some little time elapsed before the absence of Margaret was known at the paternal dwelling, which favored her flight; but when the discovery was made, it aroused the most lively appre- hension of the parents, for her safety. Scouts were daily return- ing to the fort, with reports of either seeing parties of the enemy, or evidence of their recent proximity to the settlement; and the first supposition was, that one of those straggling parties had sur- prised and carried her into captivity. But on finding the empty milk-pail, and learning from Margaret's cousin that the cows had all been milked while she was present, and that Maria had been up that morning from the fort below-the elopement of the daugh- ter was rendered evident. Margaret's father, accompanied by Joachim Follock, a soldier in the Upper fort, proceeded without delay to the Middle fort, the former often calling in Low Dutch to his Mar-chra-che, to which call the Onistagrawa feebly echoed,
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" Scratch-you." On approaching the fort late in the evening, they were challenged by a sentinel, and not being able to give the countersign, came near being fired upon. Mr. Feeck could not, by the most earnest entreaties, prevail upon his daughter to return home with him that night-still, to know that she was safe and unharmed, he felt amply compensated, after so great an ex- citement, for his journey to the fort, and the danger of having a bullet sent through his head. He returned home, as we must sup- pose, little suspecting what the second act was to be in the comedy, of which he was not even to be a spectator, much less an actor.
As Margaret had left home in a sad plight to visit Hymen's altar, her young female friends at the fort lent her from their own wardrobes, for the occasion-one a gown, another a bonnet and neckerchief, a third hose, shoes, &c .; until she was so clad as to make a very respectable appearance. Early in the day suc- ceeding the elopement-preliminaries having been arranged the evening before-Murphy and Miss Feeck, accompanied by Miss Margaret Crysler, William Bouck, an uncle of the latter, and Sergt. William Lloyd, a Virginian, set out in a wagon furnished by Garret Becker, for Schenectada. Although Murphy had the certificate of Mr. Van Dyck, a worthy old gentleman who was pretty well known abroad, that a notice of his intention " to commit ma- trimony" had been legally read, still it was feared the father might take effectual means in the cities of Albany and Schenec- tada to prevent the marriage of his daughter : and in anticipation of such an event, Maj. Woolsey, who then commanded the fort, gave Murphy a furlough to go to the head-quarters of the Commander- in-chief, if necessary, to have the marriage take place.
The party went to Schenectada, where Murphy on his arrival purchased silk for a gown, and other articles necessary to com- plete the female attire of a bride, and the immediate requisition of several dress-makers of that ancient town hastily fitted them to the pretty form of our heroine; soon after which she was united in wedlock to the heroic Murphy-who had discovered himself suc- cessful, thus far, not only in the art of war, but of love. The cou- ple were united, if I am rightly informed, by the Rev. Mr. Johnson,
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who preached in Princetown several years, and subsequently in Harpersfield. On the following day the party returned to Scho- harie, where the successful groom was loudly cheered by his com- patriots in arms. During the absence of the wedding party, the officers of the garrison, assisted by the young ladies in the vici- nity, made preparations for their reception in a becoming manner, at the house of Peter Becker, who then lived where Ralph Man- ning now resides-but a short distance from the Middle fort. A sumptuous feast was prepared for the numerous guests, which was followed in the evening by a ball, given in honor of the happy event. Nearly all the officers of the garrison were among the guests; on which occasion the beauty and fashion then existing in that valley were brought together. After the delighted com- pany had partaken of a rich supper, the tables were removed and the guests began to dance. The young wife, from her modest and unsophisticated demeanor, as an old lady who was present assured the author, appeared to very good advantage in the eve- ning, and " was indeed a pretty bride." She, however, had pre- viously been allowed to go into company but little, and her know- ledge of dancing was limited-consequently at this ball, given in honor of her nuptials, she was led while performing her part of the dance.
Only two or three figures were danced, when a scout returned to the fort and reported, that they had fallen in with a party of Indians not far distant, whereupon the linstock was applied to the alarm gun, and its thunder went booming along the valley, echo- ing and re-echoing among the surrounding mountains-a most unwelcome sound at the moment, but its import too well under- stood to be disregarded; and the party all repaired to the fort to finish the festival.
Now for a reconciliation. When Margaret's parents learned that she was married-that she was in truth the wife of Murphy- they were at first highly offended, and resolved never again to ad- mit her into their house. But time, which has healed worse wounds than theirs-which were occasioned more by the poverty of their son-in-law than by his demerits-began to work its own
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cure of wounded pride. The mother, who felt the absence of an only child, who had been her constant companion, the most sensi- bly, was the first to yield to the dictates of nature; and Maria, who had acted as a stair-case between the lovers, was now em- ployed by Mrs. Feeck, to obtain for her an interview with her daughter. Margaret, if she had not dimpled cheeks, or a hand of French, and a foot of Chinese dimensions, had an affectionate and feeling heart, and longed to see her mother. The mecting, according to appointment, was held in a field not far from her father's dwelling : but as she dared not approach her mother, much less enter the picketed inclosure which surrounded their dwelling-fearful that an effort would be made to detain her- they conversed on a grass plot for some time, at a little distance apart. The parent was anxious to effect a reconciliation with Margaret and have her come home, but she could not think of ad- mitting her Irish husband with her. "Never," said the daughter with spirit, " as much as I love home and my parents, will I en- ter your house until my husband, who is quite as good as I am, enters it with me !" As Margaret was about to return to the fort below, her mother requested her to remain until she could go to the house and get her something to eat. She soon returned with a pie, which-as the daughter retreated on her approach- she set down on the ground, then retired a little distance, and had the satisfaction to see her darling-her only child-advance, take it up, and eat of it. This act was witnessed by Mrs. Frederick Mattice. After eating part of the pie, she set out to go back, and the moistened eye of the mother followed, with womanly pride, the retreating footsteps of her daughter.
The father had not been present at the interview mentioned, and his heart also yearned to embrace his daughter, although pride prevented its acknowledgment. Repeated messages were sent to Margaret, offering full pardon on her part for the past, urging her to visit the paternal dwelling : to all of which, her answers were similar to the one previously given her mother. After a little time, it was hinted that Murphy intended to take his wife to Penn- sylvania, which report caused the parents of Margaret much anx-
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iety. A new mediator, in the person of Cornelius Feeck, a re- lative of the young bride, was now deputed to wait upon the lat ter. Among other fine sayings of his, which were uttered to in- duce her to return home, he told her "how much her father thought of her." "Yes," she replied, with dignity and some warmth- conscious of the change in her personal appearance which the goodly apparel bought by her generous husband had wrought- " When at home, I had two or three striped linsey petticoats and a calico frock : now see how I am drest!" she added, at the same time flouncing the skirt of a rich silk gown-" This shows who cares most for me!" She also intimated the intention of soon accompanying her husband to Pennsylvania.
On learning the result of their kinsman's interview with their daughter, who had heard from her own pretty mouth (which, gen- tle reader, was neither too large nor too small,) that she expected soon to remove to another state, the anxiety of the parents be- came exceedingly irksome. The fear of losing their daughter forever, wrought a wonderful change in the feelings of the pa- rents, and false pride now yielded at once to the Christian spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation; and the next message from them offered a full pardon to groom and bride for past offences, promising to bury in oblivion all former animosities-receive them home with a festival such as the Germans and Dutch were pro- verbially known to make at weddings in former days-and treat them as children deserved, having no bad habits, and no serious fault ; unless genuine love could be so called. The liberal terms proposed were accepted : a treaty of family alliance formed ; and at an appointed time, the happy couple, accompanied by about thirty officers and soldiers, and a party of citizens-the whole at- tended by martial music-proceeded to the Upper fort. As the guests drew near the entrance, Mr. Feeck ran forward, threw open the gate, and extending to Murphy and his wife each a hand, welcomed them home. Said he, as he grasped the hand of the patriot soldier, " You have my daughter, but you shall not take her to Pennsylvania : I have enough to support us all." Murphy was a man of powerful lungs, and giving the old man's hand a
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gripe he long remembered, replied in his usually loud voice-"She is no longer your's, Masther Fake ; she is my wife. I did not marry her to get your property, as I can take care of her myself." As the party entered the house, the parents both wept for joy at the restoration of their child ; and the good things were abun- dantly served to the guests, whose hearts-if I dare tell it in tem- perance times-" were made glad with good wine." This recon- ciliation took place about a month after the marriage; from which time, the couple made their home at Mr. Feeck's. On the death of her parents, Margaret inherited their valuable estate, and her sons still live on the patrimonial farm .- Mrs. Angelica Vrooman, Mrs. Van Slyck, Mrs. Frederick Mattice, Maria Teabout, and others.
Most of the riflemen who continued in Schoharie during the war, and some of the more fearless citizens, enlisted to perform the duty of scouts, more or less of whom, were kept constantly out from the Schoharie forts, in the summer season. They were called Rangers, a term very applicable. Their duties were at times of the most dangerous and fatiguing kind, and not unfrequently in the fall and spring of the year, when they had to encamp on the ground at night without a fire, they suffered almost incredible hardships. The music of those scouts, was that produced by a conch-shell, which was carried by the leader, and served to call the party together when they chanced to become separated in the woods .- David Elerson.
If the duties of the Schoharie Rangers were peculiarly hazard- ous and perplexing, still they saw some happy hours. Among the soldiers at the Middle fort were two fiddlers, who often played for their comrades to dance, when the latter could find female part- ners. On a certain occasion, the officers at the Middle fort, re- solved to have a dance. The soldiers concluded to have one on the same night, and spared no pains or expense to rival the offi- cers. They sent to Albany for ten gallons of wine among other necessaries, and succeeded in getting the ladies all away from their epauletted superiors, so as entirely to prevent the latter from dancing. My informant said that this dance cost him thirty dol- lars, and he supposed it cost several others quite as much .- Elerson
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In the fall of 1780, a small party of the enemy, a dozen or more in number, entered the Ballston settlement, under the di- rection of Joseph Bettys, a subaltern officer in the British ser- vice, known in border difficulties by the familiar name of Jo. Bettys. He resided in the Ballston settlement previous to the war, and when the contest began, took up arms for the states, but af- terwards entered the British service, proving to his former neigh- bors a source of frequent terror.
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