USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 38
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That beautiful valley, on the evening after the invasion, pre- sented a most gloomy picture. Ruin and desolation followed in the train of the foe, and many a man who had risen in the morn-
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY, ETC.
ing in comfortable, if not in affluent circumstances, found himself in the evening houseless, and almost ruined in property. His barns and barracks which the morning light had disclosed well filled with the rich reward of his season's labors, were so many heaps of smouldering ruins. His cattle, horses and swine, which had grazed " upon a thousand hills," either lay dead in the ad- joining fields, or had been taken by the ravagers : while some of his fences had been burned and others demolished. Thus was re- venged the destruction of the Indian possessions in the Chemung and Genesee valleys the year before by Gen. Sullivan ; which, had they a historian, would be found a no less gloomy picture. Scarcely a log house at that early day was to be seen in the Scho- harie valley : the dwellings were mostly good framed buildings, well finished and some of them painted. But here and there a building, from some cause, escaped the devouring element, to ren- der the general ruin the more obvious. The dwelling of Peter Rickard was set on fire, and after the enemy had left it, an old ne- gro, owned by John Lawyer, went to it from his concealment in the woods near, found a quantity of milk on the premises, and with that extinguished the flames. The house of one of his neigh- bors was also set on fire and put out .- Andrew Loucks. It is possible one or two other houses may have escaped the general conflagration under somewhat similar circumstances. Several fa- milies residing on the uplands, east of the Court House, remained at home undisturbed by the enemy .- Eleanor, widow of Nicholas Feeck.
Henry Haines, jr., of New Dorlach, who was with the enemy in the Schoharie valley, on the evening after its conflagration, ar- rived at the Lower fort, and enquired for John Rickard, his half brother, who was a whig. Haines had burned his feet. so badly in plundering a building on fire, that he could not travel; and claimed the sympathy of his kinsman. Rickard pitied the wretch and concealed him in his hut for several days under lock and key, to keep him from the revenge of his injured fellow countrymen : allowing him, possibly, to pick the bones of Enders' goose .- Peggy Ingold, corrobora!ed.
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CHAPTER XIV.
On the morning of October 18th, Col. Vrooman, collecting what troops could be spared from the three forts, pursued the re- treating foe. He hung upon his rear all the way to the Mohawk valley, and by a timely movement circumscribed his burning foot- steps .- Jacob Becker, Nicholas Warner, and David Zeh.
The fire and smoke of the burning buildings in the lower part of Schoharie, fifteen or twenty miles distant, were distinctly seen at the residence of Cornelius Putman, on the Schoharie, about a mile from its junction with the Mohawk .- Peter, a son of Corne- lius Putman, who lives on the paternal farm.
On the following morning, Victor, a son of Cornelius Putman, and Garret, a son of Cornelius Newkirk, proceeded on horseback from the vicinity of Fort Hunter in the direction of Schoharie, to discover the cause of the light seen the previous afternoon, and learn if a foe was approaching the Mohawk. They fell in with the enemy's advance on the Oak Ridge, a few miles from their last encampment, retreated, were hotly pursued, and Newkirk made captive. The timely return of his companion, however, who borrowed a horse of William Hall, a pioneer settler, (having been obliged to abandon his own,) enabled several families in the neighborhood to make good their escape, or guard against sur- prise and capture.
At this period dwellings had been erected by Richard Hoff and Marcus Hand, on the west side of the Schoharie, some four miles from Fort Hunter, in the present town of Glen. Those houses were plundered and burnt by the Indians under Brant. The family of Hoff escaped captivity by flight, and Hand was in Florida at the time.
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
Cornelius Putman removed his family into the woods, and se- creted a part of his most valuable effects before the enemy ap- peared in sight. His neighbors, Cornelius and John Newkirk, brothers, who lived on the east side of the river, also secreted a part of their property, and their families escaped, except William, a son of the latter, and three or four slaves, who had lingered a little too long at the house, and were captured. The enemy did not fire any buildings in the valley, until they had been there some time. Putman, after securing his effects, secreted himself, with a loaded gun, near his house, and saw the first Indian enter upon his premises. He went into the barn and brought out his arms full of tobacco (most of the farmers then raised a patch of the plant) which he laid down and began twisting into suitable hanks ; and as often as made, thrust into his blanket above the belt which encircled his waist. Putman several times drew up his gun to fire on the Indian, but when he reflected that he would doubtless be pursued, and his flight might lead not only to his own, but to the death of his family, and the destruction or plunder of his concealed property, he desisted from firing. From his retreat, however, he watched the motions of the enemy for hours. A party entered his house, and among the spoils brought from the cellar a keeler full of eggs, which they took to the kitchen, a lit- tle building detached from the dwelling, where they made a fire, boiled, and divided them. He saw them rob his bee-hives, and a part of the robbers sit down and feast upon the dainty product of the insect's labor. Soon after this a gun was fired, which was the signal for applying the incendiary torch, and one of the party, in Putman's presence, after swinging a fire-brand several times over his head until it blazed, applied it to the well-filled barns which were soon in flames. The house was set on fire, and several of the party fired their guns into a number of stacks and barracks of grain near, and all were soon reduced to a heap of ruins. The dwellings and out-buildings of the Newkirk's were also set on fire at the given signal, and soon shared the same fate .- Peter Putman, Ab'm V., son of Victor Putman, and John, son of Mar- cus Hand.
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
The family of Putman had crossed the river, and with the Newkirk families was on its way to Fort Hunter, when the enemy in a body appeared in sight, at which time several hun- dred of the Indians and tories were seen riding Schoharie horses. The fugitives then concealed themselves in the woods, at which place the ashes blown from John Newkirk's barn and barracks, completely covered them. Putman, very fortunately, had a large stack of peas out of sight from his house, which escaped the con- flagration, and enabled him, by an exchange of peas for rye, which he made at Claverack, to provide his family with bread the next season. On the west side of the river, a little distance above Putman, dwelt Harmanus and Peter H. Mabee, brothers. A short time previous to this invasion they had removed to Rotterdam. Many of their effects were left in their dwellings, which, with their well-filled barns and barracks, shared the same fate as those of their neighbors. One of the Mabees had seven large fat hogs, in a pen near the house, which were all killed by the enemy, and left in the pen. They were killed with a pitchfork taken from Putman's barn, being all stabbed with it between the eyes. Putman had several large hogs in a pen, which he let out before the enemy arrived. They were yet round the pen when the first Indian appeared, but had fortunately found a place of conceal- ment before the destructives were ready to slay them .- Peter Put- man.
The citizens of Cadaughrity built temporary huts next day, and erected log dwellings soon after, in which they passed the winter. Leaving the Schoharie valley the enemy entered that of the Mohawk. They avoided Fort Hunter, from which they were fired upon, approaching no nearer to it in a body, than the pre- sent residence of Richard Hudson, distant half a mile or more. At the latter place there resided a German named Schrembling, who, although a tory, chanced to be outside of his house, and being unknown, was killed and scalped; his family were how- ever left undisturbed. The enemy, after taking a few women and children prisoners, among whom were Mrs. Peter Martin, (whose husband was then a merchant in Quebec,) proceeded up the Mo-
28
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
hawk. Soon after the invasion of Johnson, a small block-house was erected on the land of Cornelius Putman, which was also un- der the management of Capt. Tremper .- Peter Putman.
At Martin's, the Indians obtained a two horse iron-shod wagon, a vehicle rarely seen in those days, and a horse which, with a pack-horse, was harnessed before it. Mrs. Martin and her two boys, Barney and Jeremiah, after seeing their house burnt and all their property destroyed, were put into the wagon with se- veral scullions and a quantity of baggage; among which were a few pans of honey from Putman's. The party proceeded up the valley as far as the present residence of George J. E. Lasher, (just below the Nose, and known on the Erie canal as the Willow Basin,) where they encamped for the night; plundering and burning all the whig dwellings which had escaped former visita- tions of a similar character. The road was so bad at that time, that the enemy found it very difficult to get along with the wa- gon, and finally abandoned it near the present village of Fulton- ville. It was unloaded, filled with rails from an adjoining fence, and set on fire ; the iron-work was afterwards recovered. Jere- miah Martin, then only four or five years old, was eating honey in the wagon unconscious of danger, and on leaving it, was li- terally covered with the vegetable nectar from head to foot. The prisoners, around whom was placed a guard of British sol- diers to prevent the Canadian Indians from murdering them, suf- fered from the cold that night, and the following morning, John- son, learning that troops were on their way from Albany and Schenectada to attack him, gave Mrs. Martin and her children permission to return, which liberty was gratefully received ; they were, however, plundered of some of their clothing-Jeremiah Martin.
·
On the evening of the 18th, Gen. Robert Van Rensselaer of Claverack, with a body of the Claverack, Albany and Sehenec- tada militia, and about two hundred Oneida Indians under Col. John Harper, in pursuit of the enemy, encamped on the hill near the Stanton place, in the present town of Florida, perhaps fifteen miles east of Johnson's encampment .- John Ostrom, who was a
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
soldier present .* Learning at this place that Fort Paris in Stone Arabia, about twenty miles north-west from the American camp, was to be attacked the following morning, Gen. Van Rensselaer sent a note to Col. John Brown, its gallant commander, to turn out and head the enemy at nine o'clock, and he would fall upon their rear. Sir John passed along the foot of the mountain and crossed the river on the morning of the 19th, at Keator's rift, near Spraker's Basin, and leaving the river above the Nose, a large part of his forces marched towards Stone Arabia. Col. Brown, a braver man than whom bore not a commission in the continen- tal service, left his little fortress and led his men to attack the foe. After marching some distance from the fort, he thought it possible he might be killed or captured, and lest the letter of Gen. Van Rensselaer should fall into the hands of the enemy, he dispatched a messenger with it to the fort. As this letter could not afterwards be found at the fort, it was conjectured, that pos- sibly the bearer had acted the traitor, and borne it directly to the enemy, as the greater part of his forces united soon after the fir- ing began between Brown and the advance .- Jacob Becker.
Gen. Van Rensselear, who had an effective force nearly double that of the enemy, put his army in motion at the moon's rising. Near Fort Hunter, where he arrived before day-light and was joined by the Schoharie militia : the wrong road was taken for some little distance, when Gen. V. R. uttered expressions his offi- cers thought unbecoming his station. The American commander arrived at Keator's rift soon after the enemy had passed it, but instead of crossing the river and seconding the movement of Col. Brown as he had agreed, and as a brave and prudent officer would have done, he remained upon the south side, where news was brought him by a fugitive from Brown's command, that the latter officer, with many of his men, was slain. Fort Paris was three miles north of the Mohawk, and yet Brown met the enemy nearly two-thirds of the way to the river, where the contest began. Overpowered by numbers he continued the conflict, slowly re-
* Col. Stone erroneously states the place of Van Rensselaer's encamp- ment, on the night in question, to have been at Van Epps's.
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
treating, expecting every moment to hear the firing in the ene- my's rear-but in vain. And contesting the ground inch by inch for some distance, he at length fell a martyr to freedom, and his blood, with that of more than thirty of his brave followers dyed the fertile fields of Stone Arabia. What loss the enemy sustained in this engagement is unknown, but as they were better sheltered by fences and trees than were the Americans, and were enabled to outflank, and had nearly surrounded them when Brown fell, it is supposed their loss was not as great .- John Ostrom, and Jacob Becker.
The following particulars, in addition to those above, were ob- tained in November, 1843, from Maj. Joseph Spraker, of Pala- tine. Col. Brown left Fort Paris (so called after Maj. Paris,) a little distance north of where the Stone Arabia churches now stand, on the morning of his death, with a body of levies and mi- litia ; and as he passed Fort Keyser, a little stockade, at which a small stone dwelling was inclosed-perhaps a mile south of Fort Paris, and about two miles distant from the river-he was joined by a few militiamen there assembled, making his effective force from 150 to 200 men. He met the enemy nearly half way from Fort Keyser to the river. They were discovered on the opposite side of a field which contained some under-brush, and which was partly skirted by a forest. As the Indians were observed behind a fence on the opposite side of the field, Capt. Casselman remon- strated with Brown against his leaving the covert of the fence ; but the hero, less prudent on this occasion than usual, ordered his men into the field, and they had hardly begun to cross it, before a deadly fire was opened upon them; which was returned with spirit but far less effect, owing to the more exposed condition of the Americans. Brown maintained his position for a time, but seeing the Indians gaining his flank, he ordered a retreat ; about which time, (nearly 10 o'clock, A. M.,) he received a musket ball through the breast. The enemy pressed on in such over- powering numbers, as to render it impossible for his men to bear off his body, and the brave colonel was left to his fate.
At the fall of their commander, some of the Americans fled to-
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
ward the Mohawk, and others north into the forest. Two of them took refuge in the dwelling of the late Judge Jacob Eacker, in the hope of defending themselves, but the house was surround- ed by a party of Indians, who set it on fire, and laughed at the shrieks of its inmates who perished in the flames.
None of the citizens who were not in the battle, it is believed, were either killed or captured, they having gained one of the two forts, or sought safety in the woods.
John Zielie, a captain of militia, had charge of Fort Keyser on that day. Geo. Spraker, father of informant, and John Waffle, elderly men, Joseph and Conrad Spraker, William Waffle, War- ner Dygert, and possibly one or two other young men, were all who were ready to aid Capt. Z. in the defence of his little fortress, when the British regulars passed near it in column, soon after Brown's engagement. It might easily have fallen into their hands, had they known the number of its defenders. The few men in it were, however, at the port holes, each with his gun and a hat full of cartridges by his side, although its commandant re- strained their firing from motives of policy. Informant had two older brothers under Col. Brown, who effected their escape after he fell.
Soon after the enemy were out of sight, the four young men named, proceeded in the direction the firing had been heard, and leaping a fence into the fatal field, Joseph Spraker stood beside the mangled remains of the brave, ill-fated Brown. His scalp had been taken off so as completely to remove all the hair on his head : this was unusual, as only the crown scalp was commonly taken, but knowing his distinction and prowess, we may justly infer the red man's motive. He was stripped of every article of his clothing, except a ruffled shirt. The four young militiamen took the body of their fallen chief, and bore it in their arms to Fort Keyser. The remains of the soldiers who fell in this battle were all buried in one pit, and Col. Brown with them, but a day or two after it was opened and his remains removed to a place of interment near the churches. Col. Brown was of middling sta- ture, with dark eyes and a fine military countenance: he usually
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
wore glasses. He was agreeable and urbane in his manners, but possessed a spirit when in danger, fearless as the dashing cataract. He fell deeply lamented by his numerous friends, and the few silver-haired heroes of his acquaintance who still survive, are en- thusiastic in his praise.
Col. Brown was a native of Massachusetts, and was born Oct. 19th, 1744. On the 19th day of Oct., 1836, fifty-six years after his death, arrangements having been made for the occasion, a monument was erected over his remains in the presence of a large assemblage of respectable citizens of the county, convened to honor the ashes of a hero. The monument was reared at the ex- pense of Henry Brown, Esq., of Berkshire, Mass., a son of the warrior, who, I regret to add, has since deceased. The following is the monumental inscription :
" In Memory of Col. John Brown, who was killed in battle on the 19 day of October, 1780, at Palatine, in the county of Montgomery, Æ. 36."'
After the ceremony of raising the monument, a sermon was preached by the Rev. Abraham Van Horne, of Caughnawaga, and a very patriotic address delivered by G. L. Roof, Esq., of Ca- najoharie : portions of which I have been kindly furnished by the author. The following is an extract from that address :
" Col. Brown fell in battle on the 19th day of October, 1780; the very day he reached the age of thirty-six, so that the anni- versary of his birth was also the day of his death. But though he fell thus early in life, and before he had filled the measure of his fame, yet his deeds of bravery and patriotism will not be for- gotten by posterity ; and the name of BROWN will, for ages to come, be held in grateful remembrance. His was that bravery, that quailed not before tyranny, and that feared not death. His was that patriotism that nerves the arm of the warrior battling for the liberties of his country, and leads him on to the performance of deeds of glory."
The forces of Col. Johnson, a part of which had crossed the river near Caughnawaga, destroyed all the Whig property, not only on the south, but on the north side, from Fort Hunter to the Nose : and in several instances where dwellings had been burned
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
by the Indians under his command in May, and temporary ones rebuilt, they were also consumed. Of the latter number was that of Barney Wemple. After his dwelling was burnt in May, he went to Tribe's Hill, tore down a tory dwelling, and erected it up- on the ruins of his former one .- Rynier Gardinier .* After Brown fell, the enemy, scattered in small bodies, were to be seen in eve- ry direction plundering and burning the settlements in Stone Ara- bia. In the afternoon, Gen. Van Rensselaer, after being warmly censured for his delay by Col. Harper and several other officers, crossed the river at Fort Plain, and began the pursuit in earnest. The enemy were overtaken on the north side of the river above St. Johnsville, near a stockade and block-house at Klock's, just before night, and a smart brush took place between the British troops and the Americans under Col. Duboise ; in which, several
* On the morning of the day on which the Stone Arabian battle was fought Fred. H. Dockstader, who lived on the "Sand Flats" in the present town of Mohawk, having seen the fires along the river, concealed his family and per- sonal effects in the woods, and then approached the Mohawk valley to gain a view of passing events ; thinking the enemy would confine their move- ments to the river settlements. As he was about to gain the desired position, he was surprised to see a party of Indians approaching him. He walk bold- ly up, and addressing them with confidence assured them he was their friend, and on his way to meet them. They proceeded with him to his house, and after laying him under contribution in the way of plunder, left him and his buildings unharmed. Before leaving, they took several of his horses, one of which was a favorite, although he dared not protest against their taking it. This party of the enemy burned the house of F. H. Dockstader's brother, within sight of his own, and left a war club in a conspicuous place ; as much as to say, we will kill the proprietor if we can catch him.
A pleasing incident occurred at Dockstader's, illustrative of the red man's character. One of the Indians caught a colt that had never been rode, and with his belt and some cords made a kind of bridle which he put upon its head. The colt stood still until the Indian mounted with a bundle of plunder in one hand and his rifle in the other, seemingly delighted with his new mas- ter ; but as soon as he had made ready to set forward, and struck his heels against the animal, it dashed onward and reared several times, sending the Indian heels over head upon the ground in one direction, and his rifle and duds in another. Thus rid of his load, the colt stopped and looked back to witness the plight of the rider. The rest of the Indians laughed as though their sides would split, and Dockstader, who dared not laugh, expected to see the Indian rise and shoot the animal ; but instead of doing so, he sullen- ly gained his feet-picked up his portable wealth, and moved off amid the merry jeers of his companions .- Henry F., son of Fred. H. Dockslader.
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
on each side were killed or wounded. Johnson was compelled to retreat to a peninsula in the river, where he encamped with his men much wearied. His situation was such that he could have been taken with ease. Col. Duboise, with a body of levies, took a station above him to prevent his proceeding up the river ; Gen. Van Rensselaer, with the main army, below : while Col. Harper, with the Oneida Indians, gained a position on the south side of the river, nearly opposite. The general gave express orders that the attack should be renewed by the troops under his own imme- diate command, at the rising of the moon, some hour in the night. Instead, however, of encamping on the ground from which the enemy had been driven, as a brave officer would have done, he fell back down the river and encamped three miles distant. The troops under Duboise and Harper could hardly be restrained from commencing the attack long before the moon arose ; but when it did, they waited with almost breathless anxiety to hear the rattle of Van Rensselaer's musketry. The enemy, who encamped on lands owned by the late Judge Jacob G. Klock, spiked their can- non, which was there abandoned; and soon after the moon ap- peared, began to move forward to a fording place just above the residence of Nathan Christie, and not far from their encampment. Many were the denunciations made by the men under Duboise and Harper against Van Rensselaer, when they found he did not begin the attack, and had given strict orders that their command- ers should not. They openly stigmatised the general as a coward and traitor ; but when several hours had elapsed, and he had not yet made his appearance, a murmur of discontent pervaded all. Harper and Duboise were compelled to see the troops under John- son and Brant ford the river and pass off unmolested, or disobey the orders of their commander, when they could, unaided, have given them most advantageous battle. Had those brave colonels, at the moment the enemy were in the river, taken the responsibili- ty of disobeying their commander as Murphy had done three days before, and commenced the attack in front and rear, the conse- quences must have been very fatal to the retreating army, and the death of Col. Brown and his men promptly revenged .- Jacob Becker, a Schoharie militiaman.
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