USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 57
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
This cavern is situated in the midst of a forest, and ingress to its dark chambers is down a natural chimney of 70 feet depth, through massive lime rock, with nearly perpendicular sides. The chimney is now supplied with a substantial ladder, the foot of which rests upon timber and earth, which have accumulated in the lapse of time to several feet in depth. From the foot of the
634
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
ladder, the principal direction of the cavern is southwest ; and the visiter after descending some 30 feet more by a craggy footing and a second ladder, arrives at a passage some 10 feet wide, and for a little distance not over three feet high.
On the right of this passage, which is nearly 30 feet long with an arch of nature's masonry, a stream of pure water issues from an opening three feet wide and fifteen inches high. A small boat having been constructed for the purpose and called after its pro- jector the Bonny Boat, Mr. Bonny in one of his early visits ex- plored this part of the cavern. In a recumbent posture he was pushed off in his tiny craft with torch in hand into the dark hole, which soon enlarged to respectable dimensions, so that he could stand up and propel it : this he did by taking hold of projections of the rock. He discovered nothing very peculiar in this passage, which led in a northerly course, except that its limpid water was obstructed by fourteen natural dams, in themselves a curiosity of no little interest. They were located where the passage was 8 or 10 feet wide and about as high, with a depth of water between them ranging from 10 to 30 feet ; and consisted of tufaceous for- mations resembling sections of a circle, the curve in each dam being towards the outlet of the lake, or sluggish stream. Those dams, which rose several inches above the level of the water be- low them, and over which the stream gently rippled, were about four inches in thickness on the top, upon which the fearless navi- gator had to stand astride his boat, and push it into the lake up- on its opposite side.
This part of the cavern, which has been denominated passage of the dams, terminates in a large room nearly fifty feet square, the walls of which are graywacke, and hang in threatening con- fusion on every sidc. As the characteristic rock of the mountain is here changed, it affords the visitor no geological specimens of interest ; and as this passage is explored with much hazard, few will ever see it. The last time Mr. Bonny visited the dams, (in 1835,) the writer launched his craft and awaited with anxiety, at the entrance, his return. Mr. B. then gave this part of the ca- vern a satisfactory examination, and observed that many frag-
635
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
ments of rock' had fallen in the square room since his first visit ; and supposed that tons more might be dislodged by the discharge of a musket. He came near losing his balance while standing upon a dam and pushing over the then water-soaked boat, and on making his egress, expressed his gratitude for having, as he be- lieved, barely escaped a watery grave; for had he lost his light, and with it his boat, he could hardly have found his way, by swimming in such cold water nearly one quarter of a mile to the place of entrance.
On the south side of the main passage leading from the en- trance, at a little distance from the outlet of the lake, obstructed by dams, is an opening scarcely large enough to admit a grown person, which leads into a room some ten feet in diameter, called the Fox room ; its early visitors having found within it animal bones, supposed to have been those of a fox. The sound of ham- mer strokes upon the wall or floor of this room give evidence of a cavity beyond, into which a passage could easily be opened with proper implements.
Following the rippling stream in the main passage, it leads to the shore of a lake nearly 400 feet in length. This sheet of transparent water, buried about 100 feet beneath the earth's sur- face, and on which the zephyr bre ze has never cast a ripple, is, with two or three exceptions, not over S or 10 feet wide, averag- ing in depth from 6 to 30 feet. In some places, the arched lime- rock rises above the head of the young mariner 20 or 30 feet, while in others he is compelled to adopt Franklin's maxim, and stoop to avoid a thump.
The lake terminates at its southwest end in an enlargement of the passage, and climbing up a steertasrfirst of whor 12 feet, a small aperture leads inhd intelligent youm called from its circular form, the rotunda. This room is 315 feet in circumference, with a vaulted roof and concave floor, separated in the centre by a space of some 40 feet. A single candle reflects but a sichrel : in in this dungeon of nature, but the writer once visited it Waz- some thirty other individuals were there on the same errand, and the light of thirty torches discovered the magnificence of the
1
636
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
apartment. The only living inhabitants of this cavern are bats, which hang suspended to each other from the walls, by bringing into requisition the little hooks on their wings, and resemble bees at rest in a hive. Trout would, no doubt, live in the cold, clear waters of this everlasting dungeon.
From the rotunda is a low narrow passage running in a south- east direction several hundred feet, in no part of which can the visitant stand upright. On the north side of the rotunda, an opening leads into a small room denominated, from musical sounds sometimes heard in it, the Music Saloon. A few years ago this cavern was purchased by John Gebhard, jr. and Mr. Bonny, who opened a passage in the clay and sand which constitute the floors, from the music room into several other small apartments in that vicinity ; and it is highly probable that similar excavations would disclose other hidden recesses. In fact, a few hours' labor would doubtless open a passage through the floor in one part of the rotunda, beneath which the outlet of the lake can be heard descending to a lower level, and thus disclose to the visitor new attractions-new wonders.
Tons of rare minerals have been removed from the several rooms of this cavern, to adorn the cabinets of practical geolo- gists. Stalactites and stalagmites, of semi-transparent alabaster, white as Alpine snow, and of every seeming variety of shape, have been taken from this laboratory. Minerals depending from the ceilings, or attached to the walls and floors, were removed by the early visitors, but many of the richest specimens have been discovered at a later period, by digging in the earthy floors.
Some of 2 32222 ~f alabaster, which have been formed in the lapse of ages bich are gray wir of water through the fissures of lime-rock, and its escar > the characteristic cion, thus leaving its imbibed sedimentary deposit of carbonate of lime on the floors of this cavr - al's found to contain geodes filled with beautiful flos- will evf'thread-like crystals. The satin spar is only rivalled by 182 of Derbyshire, England, while the brown calcarious spars and arragonite are rarely equalled in beauty by those of any other cavern.
637
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
A specimen weighing several hundred pounds now adorns the valuable cabinet of John Gebhard, Esq., which was removed by immense labor from the music saloon, and drawn to the surface by a windlass. It is a mass of pure white alabaster, which has incorporated in its formation several stalagmites, and projecting from a part of which are forty-one distinct stalactites of various sizes, pointing, like so many magnets, to the centre of all gravity. Another specimen which was excavated in this part of the cav- ern, deserves especial notice. It is a female bust, or rather breast, of purest alabaster ; the contour is French, and approximates sur- prisingly to nature, on which account it is one of the most valua- ble of all stalagmitic formations-for it is a form which may be admired without the fear of its imbibing false pride, or blushing at the exposure of its own charming proportions.
Gebhard's cavern has a merited celebrity on account of its se- cluded locality, its limpid lakes, its rotunda, its salubrious atmo- sphere, and the immense quantity of beautiful minerals it has af- forded the admirer of Nature's handiwork ; not a few of which, for their snowy whiteness, are scarcely equalled by those of any other cavern in this country : and it will continue to have nume- rous visiters, although other caves, dark and deep, may become justly celebrated in its neighborhood. For as a previous writer observes-" The novelty of navigating a crystal lake by torch light, beneath an arch of massive rock, at the distance of some hundred feet from the surface of the earth-the breathless excite- ment resulting from the real and imaginary dangers of the enter- prise, &c., are themselves sufficient to render this cavern a place of frequent and interesting resort."
Several females have explored it, the first of whom was Miss Wayland, a spirited and intelligent young lady from New York city. The interior of all caverns is ever damp-ever dirty ; and those who would visit this or any other, and explore its or their extent, must go provided with a suit of once rejected apparel : in other words, they must increase the novelty of their visit by gaz- ing on curious objects in the most ludicrous figure they can possi- bly present-which is that of disguising their persons in the cast-
41
638
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
off clothing of somebody's grand-parents. Col. Stone, speaking of Miss Wayland's preparation to enter this cavern, said " she had prepared herself at the village with a garb which would have appeared well in the beggar's opera."
A elever romance of the Mohawk, written a few years since by Hoffman, and given the name of Greycelaer, (a name which sounds too much like that of certain tory leaders, mentioned in this volume, to please the writer,) locates some scenes of it in this ca- vern, to which he applies the very pretty Indian name of Wane- onda. It is not probable, however, that any Indian ever entered, noticed, or named it. The charming Alida de Roos, its heroine, the reader may almost fancy personified in the person of Miss Wayland, who is doubtless quite as pretty.
OTSGARAGEE CAVERN, known in its vicinity as Howe's cave, and called by G. F. Yates, Esq., (an antiquarian and naturalist, who was one of its earliest visiters, and first to describe it), The Great Gallery Cave, is situated on the farm of Henry Wetsel, in the extreme northwest corner of this town, about three and a half miles from Central Bridge, and five from the Court House. It was first explored by Lester Howe, its present proprietor, in the month of May, 1842. The entrance is in the side of a mountain ridge of limestone, on the west side of the Cobelskill, not far dis- tant from, but elevated some fifty feet above that stream. From the entrance, which is very easy of access, its principal direction is nearly west, leading off under the town of Cobelskill.
A visit to several spacious rooms in this cave, is made with com- parative ease, and little or no danger ; one of which, situated some distance from the entrance, is very properly called the Chapel, in a published notice of it. This apartment, which crosses the prin- cipal direction of the passage, somewhat resembles in shape the hull of a ship bottom upwards, in an inclined position, the floor at one end being elevated above the other, and is some sixty or sev- enty feet in length by about twenty in breadth, with a vaulted roof separated from the floor by a space of twenty or thirty feet. Near the upper end of this room is a stalactite which will weigh several hundred pounds, and beneath it a stalagmite of corres-
639
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
ponding dimensions. They are ash-colored, of interesting form, and far more valuable where they are, than they would be in any other place, as they may, in fancy, be considered the desk of the Chapel.
From the room just described, the visitor, whose curiosity leads him farther, is obliged to pass through a place called the tunnel, nearly two hundred feet in length, so contracted as to compel him either to creep on all fours, or prostrate, and worm himself along upon a plank placed for his convenience, where the cavities of the floor are filled with water, which plank are of course con- stantly wet. Threading this passage, in some parts of which he cannot turn round if he would, the visitor will feel awe-stricken, and, if he never has before, will realize to some extent the con- sciousness of his own weakness and ability of
That Spirit. power the earth we tread now quakes, And closing old, new mountain-caverns makes; Which bids the clouds send down their timely rain, And whistling winds go drink it up again.
This narrow passage conducts into a room in which a boat is re- quired to cross a small sheet of limpid water, which is thirty feet long, twenty wide, and ten deep, over which Charon ferries his friends.
From the lake the main passage of the cavern extends a great distance, much of the way following the meanderings of a brook, the passage being sufficiently large to permit visitors to proceed with no other inconvenience than their exposure to wet feet. Several extensive rooms are met with in the back part of the cavern, which contain formations of a novel character ; and in one of its secret passages is heard the thundering of a cataract, where a stream of water dashes down unobserved into caverns far below. The passages of this cavern, large and small, extend several miles from its entrance, and disclose to the visitor many interesting peculiarities ; and that persons may not travel great distances to visit it and go home disappointed, as several have, who expected to explore " The rival of the Mammoth Care in Kentucky," I am constrained to observe that several accounts have
640
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
exaggerated its true picture. To say nothing of a lake within it, in which subsist fish that have no visible orguns of sight, "The Mammoth Cave in Kentucky," says James K. Paulding, " is the largest cavern in the known world, having either thirty or thirty- two avenues radiating from the area within the entrance, each one extending to the distance of ten miles under the earth. A man, therefore, in going and returning through these avenues, would cover a distance of upwards of six hundred miles." There are acres of ground in single rooms in this great cavern, while much of the Schoharie cave under consideration, consists in nar- row passages, not to be explored without some difficulty, and the hazard of receiving a sponged coat and muddy boots.
Far inland, this cave abounds in mineral deposits, peculiar to caverns in limestone, such as calcarious spar, arragonite of vari- ous colors, and alabaster in stalactical and other forms ; few of which as yet taken out will compare, however, in pearly and snowy whiteness, with similar formations found in Gebhard's Cave. Some of the dangerous looking holes in Cobelskill and Carlisle, may possibly be found to communicate with Howe's Ca- vern. The proprietor is making praiseworthy efforts to open a passage round the tunnel to the lake, which, if successful, will ob- viate the greatest difficulty now met with in satisfactorily explor- ing this cave, and it will then be visited by numerous guests.
Nehtaway's Cave, situated on the farm of Peter Nethaway, two miles south-west of the court-house, was explored in 1836 by John Gebhard Esq., and Mr. Bonny. It afforded nothing worth removing, save a few choice cabinet specimens of colored rhombohedral spar, which resembles the most inviting maple sugar.
In addition to the rich minerals found in its caverns, this town affords several others of beauty and interest. Sulphate of stron- tian, an exceedingly rare mineral, is found in two localities : one in a vein between layers of rock at the Karighondontee moun- tain, about three miles northwest, and another one-fourth of a mile southeast of the court-house. This mineral receives a fine polish, and resembles marble in its appearance, but is easily de-
641
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
termined by its specific gravity, which is much heavier than that of marble. Carbonate of strontian, almost as rare a mineral, is also found at the last mentioned locality.
A mine of iron pyrites, to appearance exhaustless, is situated on the west bank of the river, one mile southwest of the court- house. Some of its crystalizations are very beautiful ; but the mineral is of no great value. A German chemist, named John Casper Staudt, is said to have made small quantities of copperas at this place during the Revolution. In fact, he acquired the repu- tation of making contraband coppers also, which are said to have passed more currently than continental paper.
On the south bank of Foxes creek, one mile east of the court- house, is a locality of clay-stones. They are small, regular forma- tions of indurated clay, and present the appearance of having been turned in a lathe. They are washed out at every freshet from a steep bank, at a depth of at least ten feet below the surface. They are valueless, but in themselves a matter of no little curiosity.
Fluate of lime or fluor spar, is found in small quantities in scams of the lime-rock, half a mile southeast of the court-house. In its vicinity also occurs a strata of water limestone, which Pro- fessor Beck analyzed with the following result :
Carbonate of Lime,.
56.25
Carbonate of Magnesia,
.30.75
Silica and Alumina,.
11.50
Oxide of Iron,
1.50
100.000
Calcurious tufa is found in several localities along the west side of the river. In it are beautiful specimens of fossil moss ; the incrustations of limy matter being so delicate as to preserve every fibre of the once living moss ; while other portions, finding the former bed a fertilizer, grow upon its top, presenting the pheno- mena of white and green in the same cluster. A specimen ana- lyzed by Professor Beck, gave the following result :
Carbonate of Lime,.
97.25
Organic matter,.
1.95
Silica, .80
100.000
642
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
On the walls of the old stone church, are cut the names of most of the individuals who aided in its erection. In the grave- yard near it is the following monumental inscription :
" In memory of Col. Peter Vrooman, who departed this life De- cember 29th, 1793, aged fifty-seven years, nine months, and nine days."
SEWARD, erected from Sharon February 11th, 1840, is distant from the Court House 15 miles, and from Albany 48. It is bound- ed north by Sharon, east by Cobelskill, south and west by Otsego county ; and was named after His Excellency, William H. Sew- ard, then Governor of the State. This town has 4 churches-] Methodist, 2 Lutheran, and 1 Baptist ; and 2 post offices, called Hyndsville, and Gardnersville.
The local settlement called New Dorlach, after a town in Ger- many from whence its citizens came, was made in this town in 1754, by Sebastian France, Michael Merckley, Henry Hynds, and Ernest Fretz, who landed at New York in the fall of 1753, pro- ceeded to Albany in the winter, and the following spring began their pioneer residence. These settlers had part of their early milling done at Schenectada.
The north part of Seward has a supply of limestone. A spur of the Catsbergs runs along the south side of West creek. On the north side of that stream, situated between Hyndsville and Lawyerville, is a hill, called on the early maps by the Indian name of Gogng-ta-nee. The following inscription may be seen in the burying ground of the Methodist Church, near Hyndsville :
" In memory of Horace Handy, who died Sept. 11, 1834, in the 22d year of his age. H. H. was a graduate of Union College, a member and benefactor of the Adelphi Society, by whose order this was erected."
SHARON, centrally distant northwest from the Court House 18 miles, and from Albany 45, is bounded north by Montgomery county, east by Carlisle, south by Seward, and west by Otsego county. This town was so called after Sharon in Connecticut. Being underlaid with limestone, it has numerous caverns, few, if any of which, have yet been explored. The rock contains
643
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
numerous fossils, among which I have procured good specimens of branch coral. Sharon has 4 post offices-Sharon, Leesville, Argusville, and Sharon Centre (the last mentioned being nearest the Sharon Springs); and 4 churches-1 Reformed Dutch, 1 Me- thodist, 1 Baptist, and 1 owned by the Lutherans and Baptists.
In a ravine nearly a mile north of the turnpike, two miles from the Sharon Centre post office, and about the same distance from Leesville, are the Sharon Sulphur Springs-mineral waters-said to be similar in properties to the celebrated springs of Virginia. The principal spring boils up from the bed of a small brook, dis- charging a column of water which must ever supply an abundance for medicinal purposes.
An analysis, made by Dr. Chilton, of New York, of water from this spring, gives the following result :
Grains.
Sulphate of Magnesia,
42.40
do Lime,
111.62
Chloride of Sodium, -
2.24
do
Magnesium,
2.40
Hydro-sulphuret of Sodium,
2.28
do Calcium, S
Total number of grains, 160.94 Sulphuretted Hydrogen Gas, 16 cubic inches.
Besides this, there are several smaller springs of like efficacy near, and, as stated by Dr. Beck, a chalybeate spring in the same neighborhood. The waters of the first mentioned spring are high- ly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen-indeed, to such a de- gree as to tarnish silver, even in the pocket of the visiter. There is a pretty cascade, about a quarter of a mile distant from the shower house, to lure the lover of romance, while around the springs fossil leaves and moss are easily obtained in great perfec- tion by geologists.
Anhydrous sulphate of lime, an exceedingly rare mineral, is found in a little cave near the principal spring at this place. It is a remarkable fact, that while crystals are decomposing on one side of a mass of this mineral, they are often forming on the op- posite side.
644
HISTORY OF SCHOHARIE COUNTY,
The waters of the Sharon Springs have obtained great celeb- rity for the last twenty years, for their beneficial effects on rheu- matic, cutaneous, and other diseases ; and a public house was long since erected near the principal spring. The PAVILION, a magni- ficent hotel, reared by a company of gentlemen from New York, in 1836, on an adjoining eminence, for the better accommodation of visiters, is now fitted up in elegant style, and under the direc- tion of its present proprietors, Messrs. Gardner & Landon, is well
PAVILION
SURBES
SHARON SPRINGS PAVILION.
patronized by invalids, who would know the efficacy of the mine- ral waters, and fashionable tourists, who would seek a summer re- sidence where novel and picturesque scenery, and a most salubri- ous atmosphere cannot fail to invite them.
The Pavilion is situated on the borders of Schoharie, Montgo- mery, and Otsego counties, about 45 miles west from Alba- ny, 20 northwest from Schoharie Court House, and 8 east from
645
AND BORDER WARS OF NEW YORK.
Cherry Valley. Visitors who would approach the Springs from the valley of the Mohawk, will find carriages running daily, in the summer season, from Canajoharie, nine miles distant, for their accommodation.
SUMMIT,* erected April 13, 1819, from Cobelskill and Jefferson, is distant southwest from the Court House 20 miles, from Albany 50, and from Catskill 55. It is bounded north by Cobelskill, east by Fulton, south by Jefferson and Delaware county, and west by Otsego county. It began to be settled about ten years after the close of the Revolution, by men from New England, whose de- scendants are engaged in the dairy business. Population 2,009. The prevailing rock is slate. Summit has 7 churches-3 Metho- dist, 2 Baptist, 1 Lutheran, and 1 Christian ; and 2 post offices- Summit 4 Corners and Charlotteville. Summit Pond, a small, placid sheet of water, near the corners in this town, covers some sixty acres of land .- J. W. Baird.
*On the borders of this town is a small lake. bearing the soft Indian name Ut-say-an-tho. It is known in the neighborhood as Jack's lake, so called af- ter the late John A. Hudson, who owned lands around it-Jack being our na- tional vulgarity for John. This sheet of water, which affords one of the sour- ces of the Susquehanna, owes its poetic name, as tradition says, to the follow- ing circumstance : Utsayantho, a beautiful Indian maiden, gave birth to an illegitimate child on its romantic shore, and a council of chiefs having been called to deliberate on its fate, they decided to drown it in the lake, and did so ; since which it has been known by the name of the unhappy mother .- E. B. Bigelow. Jr,
( 646 )
CHAPTER XXI.
While water is running from mountain to plain, And our star-spangled banner floats over the main ; When myrtle and laurel in green life are drest, We'll cherish thy mem'ry, brave captors at rest.
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.