USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 41
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" Col. Lockwood succeeded to the command of the regi- ment, whose history from that time to the end of the war was the history of our final successes against Lee's army of Northern Virginia."*
From the diary of Private John Thompson we compile the following :
" May 6th the regiment passed through Richmond and commenced their journey to Washington. On the 14th they were visited by Lieut .- Col. Tappen, who came to meet them. The 22d the grand review, was held. June 5th ar- rived in Philadelphia; were mnareled to the ' Sulliers' Rest,' and received a most cordial welcome. June 6th, in New York City, marched down Broadway, with flags flying and band playing, receiving quite an ovation. June 9th were once more in Rondout, on our way to Kingston. The road was lined with people, with many happy greetings. At the academy green we met with a grand reception ; speeches were made, an excellent lunch spread, and on the 13th the paymaster came, when, in a very short time, the 120th Volunteers had dispersed."
The loss of the regiment in the many fights in which it participated was --
Chancellorsville 59
Halifax Plank-road 19 Gettysburg ..
Boydton Plank-road .. 49 James City. 111
Mine Ruu and Locust Grove. 13
The Wilderness 61
Spotsylvania Court-House .. 12
etc. 35 Tulopotomoy 15
Total losses 651
At the grand review at Washington there were 458 officers and meu.
Soon after the eluse of the war the veterans of the 120th New York Volunteers perfected a permanent organization by the formation of a regimental union. Several public meetings have been held by the Union at Kingstou and Catskill, some of which were attended by distinguished personages of the war.
Col. Tappen died Wednesday, Jan. 20, 1875, and the next regiment reunion was held Feb. 224; the exercises
were in great part devoted to a review of his life and char- aeter. Lieut .- Col. C. D. Westbrook presided. The Hon. Theodorie R. Westbrook delivered an address appropriate to Washington's Birthday, and the exercises were witnessed by a very large and notable audience, the front seats being occupied by the veterans of the 120th Regiment, and by officers and soldiers of the 20th Battalion, who attended in uniform. Gen. T. B. Gates paid a feeling tribute to his memory,-" one who marched under the colors of the ' Old Twentieth' from Kingston to fatal Bull Run." Gen. Sharpe delivered an eulogy, from which we quote :
" Ilis ancestor, Christopher Tappen, the elder, was the second of that family name that I find in this eounty. Governor George Clinton married his sister, and when in 1759 Clinton was appointed clerk for the county of Ulster, he made Christopher Tappen his deputy. relinquishing to him the emoluments of the office. George Clinton grew great in the councils of the State, and wus several times Governor while yet hobiing the office of clerk of this county. Froui 1760 te 1812 Christopher Tappen had possession of the records by virtue of his deputyship, and in the latter year was appointed bim- self to sneceed Governor Clinton as clerk.
"On the 16th of October, 1777, when Geu. Vaughan, on his ex- pedition up the river to attempt the relief of Burgoyne, then beld at ly by Gates at Saratoga, stopped on his way for the purpose of punishing the well-known loyalty of Kingston, the torch was applied to every house save one, and at this time Christopher Tappen, who, I think, was a member of the Council of Safety, was absent upon the public business. Mrs. Tappen (who was a Miss Wynkoop) did not lose her wits amid the general excitement, but, taking all the official records, she ileposited them, with her two younger chillren, in a wagon, and ted to Old Hurley.
"Christopher Tappen continued to hold the office until the consti- tution of 1821, making a continuons service of sixty-one years.
" His eldest son, Peter, was present, as a captain in the New York troops, at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and the second son, John, became the clitor of the Plebeiun, one of the early news- papers of the county. John was the father of Henry Tappen, well known to our older residents as a lawyer in the last generation, and his son, John Rudolph, was born in 1831, in the bandsowie ofl stone mansion, so familiar through all its changes, which stood on the westerly corner of Wall and North Front Streets.
"Ile first went to school to that estimable Indy, Miss Caroline Greene, whose kindly care has been extended to so many of the elni- dren of Kingston. Ile afterwards studied with an excellent scholar. -as all Scotchuien are apt to be if their tastes lead that way,- the Rev. James McFarlane, and subsequently entered Kingston Academy, under Mr. Niehols, then, and for a long time previous, ranking among the best institutions in the State.
" Leaving the academy, be entered a store in order to obtain some business education, where he remained a short time, and then went to the Plattekill farin, which came from his mother's family. While there, and not having yet decided upon his occupation in life, be was still nuwilling to be without the advantage of the progress which had been made in agriculture, and passed the winter at Albany, in at- tendance upon the agricultural lectures given there. In 1857 be de- cided to engage in mercantile pursuits in Kingston, and for the four following years was one of the best-known young men in our society. Naturally frank and bearty in manner, with au unusual amount of humor in conversation, his companionship was sought by all. He united with those of his own age in whatever laudable enterprises were proposed; and it was at this time that he became connected with the unlitary organization known as the ' Kingston Greys,' which afterwards furnished a number of officers in the late war. When it wax urged upon him that he could be more useful by connecting bim- self with the regimental organization,-the old 20th New York State Militia,-after due reflection he yielded, and became an officer of B Company, under Col. Pratt. Who eau forget the encampments at Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Rondout, and Athens? His strict perform- ance of duty and genial hutuor soon tuade him the favorite line-officer in the regiment.
> Gen. Sharpe's address at the seventh annual inceting of the 120th Regimental Union, at Kingston, Feb. 22, 1875.
Hatcher's Run ...
North Auna, pursuit of Ler,
Front of Petersburg .. 33
165
ULSTER IN THE REBELLION.
" Then came the terrible battle of the second Buli Run. . . . Capt. Tuppen's letter home giving an account of the uetion first speaks of Cal. Pratt's being severely woumled: then of Capt. Ward, mortally ; then of Lient. Iloruer, killed; then of Capt. Abraham Smith and Lients. Von Valkenburg, P'rance, and Me Mahou, and the sergeant- minjor ; of George Masten and se, eral others of the privates : of his own orderly being killed; and finally, after all this, he says, "My own wound is in the head. A ballet struck we just above the fuire- head, passed under the skin, and came out the corner of my fore- head.' And he adds, ' There! you see the benefit of being thick- hended.'
"Ilis generous pen sent messages for officers and men, mentioned ensualties that had happened to all of whom he had heard, and finally speaks of his own simply lo assure his family of his probable early restoration to duly.
" Meantime, we were organizing the second regiment in this county, andl, desirons of bientifying it as much as possible with its brave pre- decessor, several of the designating numbers to which we would have been entitled were passel over, and that of the 120th was asked and obtained from Governor Morgan. My own, and the thoughts of others, naturally turnel to Tappen, aud he was commissioned as major, joining us at Fairfax Seminary , where we can will recall his cheerful voice and gay manner as he came riding into camp with his head still bound up with bandages.
" Assigned to the Excelsior Brigade of the 3d Corps,-the corps of Kearney and of Hooker,-we were soon united to the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac.
$
"Col. Tappen returned home, to succeed in winning iu eivil life the same love and admiration that he had excited among his comrades. Soon after his marriage he was induced by goutte influences to con- neet himself with a church which had not been the church of his fathers, and to it he gave the loyalty that he displayed in the interest of all his undertakings. From that time to the day of his death his story is as well known to all of you as it is to myself.
"Honored and respected in his business relations, his wood the strongest obligation that be could make, every action distinguished by truth and honor. choosing the best side of every question that was presented, engaging in every good work, firm in bis convictions, ond yet amiable in all his social relations, he leaves the record of a character singularly spotless and well balanced. lle was always able to correct those who were under hint without leaving a sting to follow the reproof, and his army recollections were continually flowing out in graceful tributes to his comrades. Soon struck down by the dis ease the seeds of which he brought back from the army, he begin that manful contest of four years, during which he contested every inch of the ground with the enemy. In his last hours he said to me. in a faint voice, ' There is not much left of me, but I mean to fight it ont to the last minute.'
" Ilis disease sometimes overpowered him to such an extent as to cause his mind to wandler, and then his memories all reverted to the old Army of the Potomac. How many times he fought over son :~ of the battle fiells ?- so often, indeed. that the one who was nearest in attendance upon him is as familiar with those fights as if she had personally participated in them. But. waking or in dreams, his words were full of trust in God and affection for his comrades.
" His military character I consider was strikingly similar to that of an officer of equal rank who represented this county during the Revo- lutionary war, Lieut .- Col. Jacobus S. Bruyn, respecting whotu a uv morial notice now lies before me, written fifty years ago this year by a skillful and venerated hand still in our midst.
" Col. Bruyn was made a prisoner, with the garrison, at the capture of Fort Montgomery, and the memorial of which I speak draws a picture of him as he was taken among the last who surrendered, ilis- enenmaberel of his coat, with his handkerchief bound round his head. and, with sword in hand, resolutely defending his station on the en- trenchment +.
" And when those who follow us shall come to make up the record of the deeds and the fame of those who have gone from this old county of Ulster to the great war for the Union, none will be brighter than that, of John Rudolph Tappen, a captain in the 20th New York State Militia, and lieutenant-colonel commanding of the 12uth New York Volunteers."
IHL .- OTHER ULSTER COUNTY SOLDIERS.
Besides the two regiments already mentioned, this county was largely represented in the 56th and 156th Regiments, the former of which was raised in the counties of Ulster, Orange, and Sullivan, and the latter in the counties of U'lster, Greene, and Richmond.
The 56th New York Volunteers was mustered into the United States service July 31 to Dee. 10, 1861, and was discharged and returned home Oct. 17, 1865. It partici- pated in the following battles : Lee's Mills, Williamsburg, Honey Hill, John's I-land and Devaux Neck (S. C.), White Oak Swamp, Fair Oaks, Siege of Yorktown, Chick- ahominy, Coosahatchie (S. C.), Malvern Hill, Carter's Hill (Va.), Bottom's Bridge, Dingle's Mills (S. C.), etc. Its commanding officer was Col. Charles F. Van Wyck.
The 156th Regiment perfected its organization in New York City, and enlisted to serve for three years. It was "imustered into the service of the United States, Nov. 17, 1862 ; was mustered out, in accordance with orders from the War Department, Oct. 23, 1865. Upon its regimental colors are the names of " Bisland, Port Hudson, Mansura, Opequan, Fisher's ITill, Cedar Creek,"-the " baptisms of fire" through which the regiment passed. Its first colonel, Erastus Cooke, resigned March 28, 1863, when Jacob Sharpe, brevet brigadier-general of volunteers, was assigned as its commanding officer,-a position he retained until the close of the regiment's service. Seven companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) were from Ulster County.
Ulster County also sent into the field (as members of other volunteer regiments of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jer- sey, and other States, and of the navy ) linndreds of her citi- zens to aid in the suppression of the Rebellion .* Her sol- diers saw active service, and present to us an honorable record of sterling patriotism and heroic bravery .; Ulster
# The reader is referred to the elose of queb of the town histories in this work for a full list of the honored dead, as well as rosters of all sobliers who served in the war of the Rebellion.
+ BURIED AT ANDERSONVILLE.
The following list of members of the 20th New York State Milltia and 120th New York Volunteers who died at Andersonville Prison, together with the number of their graves, the companies to which they belongel, and the date of their decease, is taken from rolls in Washington, D. C. The numbers prefixed to the naines denote the graves. Errors are to be found in the orthography, etc., as the record given is copied verbatim from the lists referred to. There are also at Andersonville the graves of 410 " unknown soldiers," in which may lie the bones of some members of the regiments named who are sup- pored to have die! prisoners there, but whose names are not found below.
TWENTIETH REGIMENT N. Y. S. M. 64, David Ackheart, "A," March 19, 1864. 3,267, D. S. Bell, " D," July 13, 1864. 3,606, S. A. Bouesteel, " G," July 17, 1864.
6,437, E. Bush, " D," Ang. 20, 1801.
5,275, C. Hadden. Sept. 9, 1864.
3,119, F. C. Hermance, "A," July 10, 1864.
4,373, G. C. Jones, July 31, 1864.
8,88, G. W. MeSorley, Sept. 16, 186-1, 11,721, J. Whitberk, " D," Nov. 1, 1865.
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
1,689, 11. Barge, " A," June 6, 1864. 11.121, J. C. Bell, " B," Oet. 18, 1864. 16,685, R. Bradshaw. " E," Aug. 21, 1865. 352, Wurren Brown, " K." April 11, 1561. 1,224, W. H. Burke, " I," May 19, 1864. 9,700, S. V. Calkins, " D," Sept 25, 186-4. 5,513, L. Carl, " 1," Aug. 13, 1564.
166
HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
County responded nobly to Her country's call, and the blood of her brave sous has moistened many a hard-fought field .* There are few, if any, counties in the Empire State whose patriotism was manifested in greater degree.
CHAPTER XXVII
LAND PATENTS OF THE COUNTY.
SEVERAL of these are treated with sufficient complete- ness in the histories of the towns where they are princi- pally located, as the Marbletown, the Rochester, the New Paltz, and the Staats patents.
The Foxhall manor, grauted to Capt. Thomas Chambers May 21, 1667, is also described in connection with the story of early settlement.
Three other principal patents require more specific men-
5,743, J. Colwill, " A," Ang. 20, 1864. 5,329, Countryman --- , " A," Aug. 11, 1564. 3,061, J. F. Crandle. " K," July 9. 1864. 2,839, S. C. De Witt, " E." July 3. 1864. 4,827, James Doyle, " H," Aug. 5, 1804. 5,810, C. Dumoud, "A," Ang. 16, 1:61. 2,972, Abram Dunsham, " C," July 7. 1461. 7,634, A. D. L. Gregory, " E," Sept. 2. 1-64. 11,670, H. J. Hear. " I" Oct. 25. 1504.
2,575, 11. J. Hallenbeck. " G," June 27. 1564. 6,094, M. Houghtaliager. " D." AAng. 15, 1561. 3,427, R. Johnson, " 9," July 16, 1564. 6,434, C. Layman, "K," Aug. 22, 1864.
1,422, Thomas Mabor .. " C." May 25, 18h1.
9,939, John Mitchell. " I," Sept. 28. 1861. 2,166. John Mae, " I," June 25, 1564.
2,714, B. S. Osterhou It, " C, " July 1. 1961. 108, J. 11. Ostrander, "1." March 23. Is6j. $15, H. Plass, " G." April 20, 1-64. 2,998, W. T. Rots, " 11," July 7. 1564. 1,910, W. J. Row. " D," June 11. 1864. 2,609, C. Poddin, " Il," June 2. 1964. 867, William Rud! r, " M," May 3, 1824. 7, 456. John R. Seigle, " K." Sept. 1, 1564. 3.190, 11. Schemerhorn. " G." July 12, 1861. 3.210, A. Sickles. " H." Nov. 10. 1st4. 7,636, E. Stevens, " C." Sept. 2. 1864. 6,047, A. Tobias. " G." Aug. 1s. 1501. 3,129, L. Tucker. " D." July 20, 1:41. >3, J. Vanvelsen, "A." March 21. 1861.
8,555, E. G. Welber, " E." Sept. 15, 1864.
* The loss of the Seth New York Volunteers alone in one fight (second Bull Run, in hillel, wounded, and prisoners, was three hun- dred and twenty three.
tion, as they each relate to territory included in several towns.
THE KINGSTON PATENT.
This differs from the charter granted to Wiltwyck. The latter was by authority of the Dutch goverment in 1661, while the patent was the grant of the English government, May 19, 1667. The tract conveyed extended along the river from near what is now Elmore's Corners to the north line of Saugerties. Its southwest corner was on the Swarte Kill, not far from Rifton Glen. Its west boundary was thence a direct line to about where the present Ulster Rail- road intersects the Esopus Creek west of the city. The continuation of this western boundary beyond is a broken line, until a point is reached somewhat northwest of Jockey Hill; from thenee the boundary is straight to the north line of the county; this last portion of the line being nearly parallel to the Hudson River.
THE HURLEY PATENT.
This is an irregular tract lying west of the Kingston patent. It was granted by the English crown, Oct. 19, 1708, to Cornelius Cool and others, though settlements by authority of the Dutch government had been made forty- five years earlier upon portions of the same territory. It is a correct general statement to say that the shape of the territory is somewhat triangular, with the base in Olive and Hurley, while the narrow part (not quite reaching an acute angle) is near Rifton Glen. Further particulars as to the early sale of these lands, and also the final disposition of the remainder, are included in the history of the town bearing the name of the patent.
THE HARDENBERGH PATENT,
This is frequently called the " great patent." It was granted April 20, 1708, to Jóhannes Hardenbergh and others. All the western portions of Ulster County are in- cluded in this tract, and a very large area beyond, in the counties of Delaware and Sullivan. It comprises very largely the mountain region of the Catskills. An interest- ing and valuable document, preserved in the town elerk's office of Rochester, is the field-book of a resurvey of the line between the Rochester patent and the Hardenbergh about the time of the Revolution.
PHINEC
CITY
HALL KINGSTON.
COURT HOUSE, KINGSTON, N. Y., BUILT IN 1818.
CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
I .- SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AREA, TITLE.
KINGSTON lies upon the Hudson River, and is nearly cen- tral with reference to the east boundary line of the county. The territory constituting the city of Kingston is bonnded north by the town of Ulster, east by the Hudson River, south by the towns of Esopus and Ulster, and west by the towu of Ulster.
The town of Kingston, as existing since the rearrange- ment at the formation of the town of Ulster, consists of a very small territory not now contiguous to any portion of the city. It is bounded north by the towns of Ulster and Woodstock, east by the town of U'Ister, sonth by Ulster and Hurley, west by Hurley and Woodstock. The new civil divisions are of very unusual and peculiar form, as may be seen by a glance at the map given in this volume .- the first which has been engraved for publication since the ae- tion of the Board of Supervisors was completed. Doubts are freely expressed by citizens whether this arrangement will be permanent, but the legal status is considered defi- nitely settled at the time of going to press (May, ISSU). The old town of Kingston, as it existed for a long series of years, inchided the territory which, since 1872, has formed the city of Kingston, together with the present towns of Kingston and Ulster and a traet set off to Woodstock by the new arrangement. From 1872 to 1879 the territory of the city was no longer a part of the town. Prior to the formation of the city government its territory (as just shown) was a part of the town of Kingston, but within it was the incorporated village of Kingston, the incorporated village of Roudout, and the unincorporated village of Wilbur.
The statistics to be compiled by the assessors the current year will be the first authoritative record of the farm acreage iu the towns of Ulster, Kingston, anl Woodstock as now arranged. Any statements of area that might be made at the present time would be of little or no value. . The dis- eussion of the Kingston patent, as well as of other land- grants prior to that given in the general history, shows con- clusively the origin of the titles to the soil in all the several divisions above enumerated.
II .- NATURAL FEATURES.
Along the Hudson River there is a series of highlands, extending from the Rondout Creek to the north line of the city. Upon the Rondout Creek, also, there are similar highlands, rising from the shore of the creek a portion of the distance by abrupt precipices nearly perpendicular. They are broken by the valley of the Twaalf Kill and by other partial depressions, through which the roads from
Eddyville and Wilbur are laid out up to the central and eastern portions of the city. North and west from the sum- mits of these hills the surface of a part of the city is rough and broken. Ledges of rocks exist within the city limits, and are opened up extensively for quarry purposes, fur- nishing valuable building materials, which are extensively shipped to New York City and to other points. The quarries of cement rock north of Rondout are fully de- scribed in another article on industrial enterprises.
The portion of the city territory that constituted the Kingston of colonial times, as well as a much greater area cast and north, consists of a level traet. The northwestern portion of this was inclosed by a stockade, as shown else- where. It is a handsome plat separated from the low grounds of the Esopus Valley by a bluff of moderate height extending on three sides,-a feature that led to its selection for the purposes of residence and defense in the dangerous times of carly settlement.
The Hudson River on the east and the Rondout Creek on the southeast are prominent features in the topography of the city. The Esopus Creck in its northern course from the great southern bend in Marbletown flows near the city on the west, and forms the boundary line for a short distance. A portion of the valuable " flats," or alluvial lands, are within the limits of the city corporation. Though thus surrounded by important rivers, the water-power for operating machin- ery is quite limited. Neither the Hudson nor the Rondout supplies motive-power, except at the falls in the latter near Eddyville. The Esopus has too little deseent to be ren- dered available for mills in or near the city limits. The mills run by water-power at the present time (except at Eddyville) are operated by the Twaalf Kill and other streams apparently of but little importance. The early Bogardus mill of Kingston village was upon a stream that is now scarcely more than a ditch or sewer in that part of the city.
The seenery at the mouth of Rondout Creek, though it is now crowded along its shores and in all its ravines with a mass of dwellings and business establishments, has many clements of the romantie and the picturesque. The rugged hill north now pierced by the tunnels of the cement com- pany ; the pleasant slopes to the south upon which the village of Sleightburgh is located; the view up the creck, with its wooded hill-sides; the outlook upon the majestic Hudson ; the deeply-indented ravines; and the hills of steep grade westward walling in the busy commercial town, -- are all features of much interest. While yet untouched by the hand of civilization they must have presented to the eye of the carly navigators of the Hudson a charming and beautiful picture.
167
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16S
HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Mr. John Romeyn Brodhead in his " History of the State of New York," in vol. i. page 536, under date of 1652, says, ---
" Between Kat-kill und Manhattan there were as yet few European inhabitants, and Thomas Chambers, who had occupied a farm near what is now the city of Troy, removing with some of bis neighbors to ' Alkarkarton' or Esopus, an 'exceeding beautiful land,' began the actual settlement of U'lster."
THOMAS CHAMBERS.
Thomas Chambers, alias Clabbort, had a somewhat sin- gular but successful carcer. He is first mentioned in the records as an English carpenter, who, May 6, 1642, con- tracted to build a house for Jan Janse Schepmoes, in New Amsterdam. The dimensions of the house were 20 by 30 feet, " inelosed all around and overhead with clapboards tight against the rain, inside even as the mason's house, one partition, one bedstead and pantry, two doors, one double and one single transom window. The carpenter shall deliver 500 clapboards for the house ; Schepmoes shall furnish the nails, and the food for the carpenter during construction, which commences this day, and for eight weeks, when the house, accidents excepted, must be ready, and when the whole shall be duly completed, Schepmoes shall pay to Thomas Chambers in addition to board, the sum of one hundred and sixteen guilders (forty-six dollars and forty cents), computed at twenty stivers the guilder, for the which the carpenter and Schepmoes submit to all courts, provided the earpenter shall hew the timber to the best of his ability." This contract is signed by both parties with a mark.
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