USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 5
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* This journey of thirty odd miles, is looked upon at the present day as a small matter, since a stage rattles over it every day ; but it was far other- wise at that period. Many were the tears of sympathy shed in Albany, at the departure of these good people, because they were going so far from any other settlement. What changes time brings. Where is now your sympathy, O ye Albanians! for the comely looking Swiss maidens and their forlorn mothers, who are now in molley groups, lingering not unfrequently a few days with you, ere they commence a western journey, which may number thousands of miles ?
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
What gave rise to this quarrel, I have been unable to learn. It is not improbable that the "green eyed monster" was the direct or indirect cause, originating in a spirit of emulation to direct the movements of the party. No one seems to have been very seri- ously injured by this unlooked for trial of strength ; the insurgents were overpowered, good order again restored, and the line of march resumed. On Sunday, (probably in the latter part of April,) a day of seven, dedicated to cleansing and decorating the outward man of the civilized world, having arrived at a small brook, which descends from the hills on the north side of Fox's creek, and runs into the latter near the present residence of Sam- uel Stevens, and within sight of the Schoharie valley, the party halted and resolved on having a general purifying. Says Brown, " while washing, the lice were swimming down the brook ; which is called Louse kill to this day." Tradition corroborates this sto- ry. I may have occasion hereafter to speak of the cleanliness of the descendants of these people. There can be little doubt, but that the washing adventure, may prove a mirror to many parties of emigrants, who have been long journeying. It is not difficult to account for the fact, that the most negligent of the number, (for I cannot believe all were so) should have become filthy. They were poor, had not changes of apparel; of course, the clothing they wore, without much pains-taking to keep it clean, must have become dirty : add to this the fact, that they had been for a great length of time, either journeying or dwelling in rude huts, in either case greatly crowded, without any conveniences for private ablution ; and we have a plausible reason to believe the story a true one. Poor people, although cleanly, find it difficult at times, to exhibit evidences of their neatness, especially while traveling.
The Schoharie flats to which they were journeying, and upon which they arrived on the day of their purifying, had been pur- chased of the natives by an agent of the Queen, to prevent future hostilities between them and the Germans. The tract of land thus purchased, began on the little Schoharie kill in the town of Middleburgh, at the high water mark of the Schoharie river, at
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
an oak stump burned hollow, which stump is said to have served the Mohegan and Stockbridge Indians, the purposes of a corn mill ; and ran down the river to the north, taking in the flats on both sides of the same, a distance of eight or ten miles, contain- ing twenty thousand acres. By the side of this stump was erect- ed a large pile of stones, which was still standing since the year 1800. Upon this stump was cut the figures of a turtle and a snake, the ensign of the Karighondontee tribe, the Indian seal of the contract. Having arrived in safety, the Germans settled along the Schoharie on the land provided by the queen, in sever- al villages or dorfs, as they called them, under the direction of the seven individuals, who acted at the Camps as their captains or commissaries. Prudence, no doubt, dictated the necessity of set- tling near together, that they might be the better prepared to an- ticipate any hostile movement of their Indian neighbors. Weiser's dorf, (so called after Conrad Weiser the founder,) was the most southern village, and occupied part of the present site of the vil- lage of Middleburgh. This dorf contained some forty dwellings. They were small, rude huts, built of logs and earth, and covered with bark, grass, &c. They were built on both sides of a street, which ran nearly east and west, and may have been called Weiser street. Hartman's dorf was the next settlement down the river, and was about two miles north of Weiser's dorf. This was the only one of the settlements called after the christian name of its founder or patroon : his name having been Hartman Winteker. This flekken,* (if the largest village in seven merited the name,) is said to have contained sixty-five dwellings, similar in construc- tion to those spoken of in the dorf above. The Germans, (as is the custom of their descendants,) built their ovens detached from their dwellings : and thirteen are said to have answered all the good house-wives of Hartman's dorf, the purposes of baking. Like the former, this village was built along one street ; and I am gratified to think I can inform the reader precisely where it
ยท Dorf means a compact farmer's town or small village ; flekken a larger village than a dorf and less than a city ; and stadt, an incorporated city .- Brown.
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
was situated. Every man who has traveled from Schoharie Court House to Middleburgh will remember, that having proceed- ed about three miles, and crossed two brooks, the most southern of which was called, in former days, the Wolf's kill, he came to two angles in the road, between which, he perceived his course changed from south to west for the distance of, perhaps, a quarter of a mile. He will also remember, no doubt, how straight and level that part of the road was, gently descending to the west ; and, too, that he expressed surprise to his companion, or, if he had no more sensible person with him, to himself, that the road had never been straightened. Now, since I have traced the lo- cation of Hartman's dorf by tradition, to the immediate vicinity of this knoll or table-land, upon which the two angles in the road appear, and have too much charity to believe, that that part of the road would not have been straightened, had the commission- ers who laid it out not had some noble object in view, I have come to the conclusion, and doubt not the good sense of the read- er will bear me out in it, that that part of the road which runs, east and west, between the angles spoken of, was once Hartman's street, and that upon each side of it once stood the unpretending dwellings of Hartman's dorf.
The next village north, was in the vicinity of the court-house, and was called Brunnen or Bruna dorf, which signified the town of springs. There are several springs in this vicinity ; and a liv- ing one, which issues from beneath the rocks a little distance south-east from the court-house, supplies most of the villagers with excellent water. The principal or most influential man among the first settlers at this place, was John Lawyer. Some of his descendants, as also those of some of the Shaeffers and Ingolds, who were also among the first settlers, still reside near the location of their ancestors. The next settlement was in the vicinity of the present residence of Doctor C. H. Van Dyck, about a mile north of Bruna dorf; and consisted of Johannes George Smidt, (or Smith in English,) with a few followers of the people, for whom he had acted as commissioner at the Camps. Smith is said to have had the best house in Smith's dorf, which
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
was thatched with straw. I am not certain that any of his clan are now represented in that section. It is probable, however, that the Snyders who reside there, may be descended from the first settlers. Fox's dorf was next to Smith's, north, and took its name from William Fox, its leading man. He settled about .a mile from Smith, in the vicinity of Fox's creek, so called after him. The Snyders, Beckers, Zimmers, Balls and Weidmans, now residing along, and near that stream, are regular descendants of the first settlers. Elias Garlock, with a few faithful followers, who, doubtless, adhered to him on account of his great wisdom, which remains to be shown, located about two miles farther down the river, near the present residence of Jacob Vrooman. . This was called Garlock's dorf. The Dietzes, Manns and Sternbergs, were among the first settlers at Garlock's dorf, whose descend- ants still occupy the grounds. The last and most northerly set- tlement, was called Kneiskern's dorf, after John Peter Kneiskern, its leading man. It was two or three miles from the last men- tioned settlement, and was made along the east side of the river, opposite the mouth of Cobel's kill. The Kneiskerns, Stubrachs, Enderses, Sidneys, Berghs and Houcks, residing in that vicinity, are descendants of the original settlers. This, and Bruna dorf, are the only ones of the seven settlements, in which the descend- ants of the list men or founders, dwell at the present day. The sectional names of Kneiskern's and Hartman's dorf, are still in use ; while the other five have sunk into oblivion.
Among the first settlers at these seven dorfs, were some whose descendants still reside in the county, their first location in but few instances being now traceable. It is presumed many of them settled at the two most southern, and important villages. The Keysers, Boucks, Rickards, Rightmyers, Warners, Weavers, Zim- mers, Mattices, Zehs, Bellingers, Borsts, Schoolcrafts, Kryslers, Casselmans, Newkirks, Earharts, Browns, Settles and Merckleys, were doubtless among the first settlers. The whole number of Germans who located in the Schoharie valley in 1711, must have been between five and seven hundred.
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CHAPTER II.
Having located the pioneers of Schoharie according to their several inclinations, let us sce how they were to live. More or less land was found at each settlement cleared, and with little pains, it was fitted for cultivation. It has been already shown that their effects were conveyed in such a manner, that we must presume they possessed very little of this world's gear. Their all, no doubt, consisted in a few rude tools, a scanty supply of provisions, a meagre wardrobe, and a small number of rusty fire arms : they had to manufacture their own furniture, if the apolo- gy for it, merited such a name. Bedsteads, they for some time dispensed with. From logs they cut blocks, which answered the purposes of chairs and tables ; sideboards, sofas, piano fortes, ot- tomans, carpets, &c., were to them neither objects of family pride, convenience or envy. They endeavored to foster the friendship of their Indian neighbors, and from them they received corn and beans, which the latter kindly showed them how to cultivate. Within one week after their arrival, four children were born; a fact I think very worthy of record in the annals of this people. Their names were Catharine Mattice, Elizabeth Lawyer, Wilhel- mus Bouck and Johannes Earhart. In preparing ground for plant- ing, which was done in the absence of plows, by broad hoes, they found many ground nuts, which they made use of for food, the first season. I have no account of their having been furnished with provisions by the Queen's agent, after they left Albany, and suppose they were left to live on their own resources, and what the country afforded.
The want of grist mills, for several years, they found to be a source of great inconvenience. The stump mentioned in the pre-
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
ceding chapter, which served as the southern bound of the first Indian purchase, not only answered the Indians, but the first Germans, the purpose of a corn mill. By the side of this hollow stump, an upright shaft and cross-bar were raised, from which was suspended a heavy wood, or stone pestle, working on the principle of a pump. Their corn for several years, they hulled with lye, or pounded preparatory to eating it.
Brown says, the first wheat was sowed in Schoharie in the fall of 1713, by Lambert Sternberg, of Garlock's dorf. As I have shown the arrival of the Germans to have been two years ear- lier than the time stated by him, I suppose the first wheat to have been sown in the fall of 1711.
As Schenectada was nearer the Schoharie settlements than Albany, for such necessaries as they required the first few years, they visited the former place the most frequently. Those who possessed the means, bought wheat there at two shillings a spint, (a peck,) or six shillings a skipple, had it ground and returned home with it on their backs, by a lonely Indian footh-path, through a heavy forest. It was thus, Sternberg carried the first skipple of wheat ever taken to Schoharie in the berry. He re- sided near the present residence of Henry Sternberg, a descend- ant of his. On the west side of the river, opposite Garlock's dorf, had been an Indian castle, which was abandoned about the time the Germans arrived ; the occupants having removed up the river, to the Wilder Hook. On the ground within the dilapidated inclosure, the wheat was sowed, or rather planted, (as they then had no plows or horses,) over more than an acre of ground ; it was planted within this yard, because it was a warm, rich piece of ground with little grass on it, and being inclosed, would remove the danger of having the crop destroyed in the fall or spring, by deer, which were numerous on the surrounding moun- tains. This wheat, which rooted remarkably well in the fall, stood so thin, from having been scattered over so much ground, that it was hoed in the spring like a patch of corn; and well was the husbandman rewarded for his labor. Every berry sent forth several stalks, every stalk sustained a drooping head, and
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every head teemed with numerous berries. When ripe, it was gathered with the greatest care ; not a single head was lost, and when threshed, the one yielded eighty-three skipples. In these days, when the weevil scarcely allows three, to say nothing of the eighty, bushels to one; this statement would perhaps be look- ed upon as incredible, were not all the circumstances known. Many procured seed from Sternberg, and it was not long before the settlers raised wheat enough for their own consumption.
For several years, they had most of their grain floured at Schenectada. They usually went there in parties of fifteen or twenty at a time, to be better able to defend themselves against wild beasts, which then were numerous between the two places. Often, there were as many women as men in those journeys, and as they had to encamp in the woods at least one night, the wo- men frequently displayed when in danger, as much coolness and bravery as their liege lords. A skipple was the quantity usually borne by each individual, but the stronger often carried more. Not unfrequently, they left Schoharie to go to mill, on the morn- ing of one day, and were at home on the morning of the next ; performing a journey of between forty and fifty miles, in twenty- four hours or less, bearing the ordinary burden ; but at such times, they traveled most of the night without encamping. It is said, that women were not unfrequently among those who performed the journey in the shortest time-preparing a breakfast for their families, from the flour they had brought, on the morning after they left home. Where is the matron now to be found, in the whole valley of the Schoharie, who would perform such a jour- ney, in such a plight ?
As may be supposed, many of the first settlers in Schoharie were related. Hence has arisen that weighty political argument sometimes heard, " he belongs to the cousin family."
Owing to the industry and economy of the colonists, and the richness of the soil, want soon began to flee their dwellings, and plenty to enter ; and as their clothes began to wax old, they manufactured others from dressed buck-skins, which they obtain- ed from the Indians. A file of those men, clad in buck-skin,
5
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
with caps of fox or wolf-skin, all of their own manufacture, must have presented a formidable appearance. It is not certain but the domestic economy of the male, was carried into the female department ; and that here and there a ruddy maiden, concealed her charming proportions beneath a habit of deer-skin.
It is said that physicians accompanied the first Germans to Schoharie ; and that for many years, ministers, or missionaries, under pay from the British government, labored in the different German settlements in the country. They visited the people ; married those whose peace of mind Cupid had destroyed ; preached to, and exhorted all. Their audiences usually occupied some convenient barn in the summer season, and the larger dwell- ings in the winter.
The want of horses and cattle at first, was much felt by the settlements. By whom cattle, swine and sheep were first intro- duced, I have been unable to learn. The first of the horse kind they possessed, was an old gray mare. She was purchased at Schenectada for a small sum, by nine individuals of Weiser's dorf; and it is said they kept her moving. Who the nine were, who gloried in owning this old Rosinante, is unknown; but there can be little doubt that Weiser, the patroon, owned an important share. It may be asked, whether the people of those settlements, who resided too close together, to admit of lands for cultivation lying between them, did not live as do the shakers; who make all their earnings common stock. With a mutual under- standing, each labored for his own benefit, and in order to prevent difficulty, lands were marked out and bounds placed, so that every one knew and cultivated his own parcel.
Not long after the Germans settled in Schoharie, the Dutch be- gan a settlement in Vrooman's Land, on the west side of the river, two or three miles above Weiser's dorf. Adam Vrooman, a citizen of Schenectada-a farmer of considerable wealth, and somewhat advanced in life, took a royal patent for this land, from which cir- cumstance, it was called Vrooman's Land : by which name it is still distinguished. This patent was executed August 26, 1714. Previous to obtaining the royal title, Vrooman had received Indian
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
conveyances for portions of the land as gifts. One of two decds, which have escaped the fate of most of Col. Peter Vrooman's papers, contains the names of eighteen Indians, inserted in the following order : " Pennonequieeson, Canquothoo, Hendrick the Indian, [probably King Hendrick of the French war,] Kawna- wahdeakeoe, Turthyowriss, Sagonadietah, Tucktahraessoo, Onna- dahsea, Kahenterunkqua, Amos the Indian, Jacob the Indian, Cor- nelius the Indian, Gonhe Wannah, Oneedyea, Leweas the Indian, Johanis the Indian, Tuquaw-in-hunt, and Esras the Indian, all owners and proprietors of a certain piece of land, situate, lying and being in the bounds of the land called Skohere." The title is for two hundred and sixty acres of land near the hill " called Onitstagrawa ;" two hundred of which were flats, and sixty acres wood-land. The instrument closed as follows: " In testimony whereof, we, the three races or tribes of the Maquase, the Turtle, Wolf and Bear, being present, have hereunto set our marks and seals, in the town of Schenectady, this two and twentieth day of August, and in the tenth year of her Majesty's [Queen Anne's] reign. Annoque Domini, 1711." Eighteen wax seals are at- tached to the conveyance, in front of which are arranged, in the order named, the devices of a turtle, a wolf and a bear, the form- er holding a tomahawk in one of its claws.
The other deed alluded to, is dated April 30, 1714, and con- tains the eight following names : " Sinonneequerison, Tanuryso, Nisawgoreeatah, Turgourus, Honodaw, Kannakquawes, Tigreedon- tee, Onnodeegondee, all of the Maquaes country, native Indians, owners and proprietors, &c." The deed was given for three hun- dred and forty acres of woodland, lying eastward of the sixty acres previously conveyed, " bounded northward by the Onitsta- grawa, to the southward by a hill called Kan-je- a-ra-go-re, to the westward by a ridge of hills that join to Onitstagrawa, extending southerly much like unto a half moon, till it joins the aforesaid hill Kanjearagore." This instrument closes in the manner of the one before noticed, except that each Indian's name is placed be- fore a seal to which he had made his mark. The ensigns of the three Mohawk tribes, are conspicuously traced in the midst of the
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
signatures. One of the two witnesses to both deeds was Leo Stevens, a woman who acted as interpreter on the occasion of granting each conveyance. Both deeds were duly recorded in the secretary's office of the province.
March 30th, 1726, Adam Vrooman obtained a new Indian ti- tle to the flats known as Vrooman's Land, executed by nine indi- viduals of the nation, "in behalf of all the Mohaugs Indians." Some difficulty had probably arisen, in consequence of his hold- ing more land than the first deeds specified. The new title gave the land previously conveyed with the sentence, "let there be as much as there will, more or less, for we are no surveyors ;" and was executed with the ensigns of the Mohawk nation-the turtle, wolf and bear.
Vrooman's patent was bounded on the north by a point of the Onitstagrawa and the Line kill, and on the south by the white pine swamp, (as a little swamp near the present residence of Samuel Lawyer was then called) and a brook running from it, and em- braced a good part of the flats between those two bounds from the hill to the river, excepting the Wilder Hook : where dwelt many of the natives, and where, as before stated, was their strong- est castle. This patent was given for eleven hundred acres, more or less. It is said to have contained about fourteen hundred acres : than which very little better land ever was tilled. He had not designed to settle on this land himself, but made the purchase for a son. Peter Vrooman, for whom it was bought, settled on it soon after the purchase. He had quite a family, his oldest son, Bartholomew, being at that time fourteen or fifteen years old. He had a house erected previous to his moving there, and other conveniences for living. The first summer, he employed several hands, planted considerable corn, and fenced in some of his land. In the following autumn, he returned with his wife and children to Schenectada to spend the winter; leaving a hired man by the name of Truax, and two blacks, Morter, and Mary his wife, to take care of the property ; of which he left considerable. Not long after Vrooman returned to Schenectada, Truax was most cruelly murdered. The circumstances attending this murder, are
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AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
substantially as follows. The evening before his death, Truax returned from the pleasing recreation of gunning, with a mess of pigeons, which he told Mary to dress and prepare for breakfast. Being fatigued, he retired to rest earlier than usual, and soon for- got his cares and dangers, in a grateful slumber familiar to the sportsman. Mary cleansed the pigeons, and after having done so, she unconsciously put the knife into a side pocket still bloody, intending, but forgetting to wash it. Morter was absent from home during that evening and most of the night. Mary arose betimes in the morning, with no small pains prepared the savory dish, and waited sometime for Truax to rise. Observing that he kept his room unusually late, she went to his door and called to him, but received no answer. She tried to open the door and found it locked on the inside. As may be supposed, she felt the most lively apprehensions that all was not right. She could, from some position outside the house, look into his window. Thither she with trepidation went, when her suspicions were more than realized, and she learned too well the reason he had not risen at his usual hour. She quickly communicated intelli- gence of her discovery to the Indians, her nearest neighbors : who, on their arrival at the house, burst open the door of his room. Horrible indeed was the sight then disclosed. Poor Truax lay in his bed, which he had sought without the least sus- picion of danger, cold and stiff in his own gore ; with his throat cut from ear to ear. Indian messengers were immediately dis- patched to Schenectada, to communicate the tragic affair to Peter Vrooman. About the same time, the bloody knife was discovered in the pocket of the weeping Mary. On the evening of the same, or early the following day, the messengers returned with Vrooman, and proper officers to arrest the murderer, or whoever might be suspected. Suspicions were fixed upon the two blacks ; and when the fact of finding the bloody knife in the pocket of Mary, and the circumstance of Morter's being absent from home were known, both were arrested, and hurried off to Albany for trial.
The day of examination soon arrived, and the prisoners were
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HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
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