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 72
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Portland, and many other water-works, and, in fact, is known throughout the whole United States for its relia- bility and tensile strength. In addition to the eement busi- ness, the company at this factory also grind large quantities of plaster for farmers' use, obtained from the quarries of the Albert Manufacturing Company at Hillsborough, New Brunswick, which is under the control of the same indi- viduals.
The general management of the business at Rondout, since the works were started, has been by the agent of the company, Hon. James G. Lindsley, assisted by Edward Tompkins, Esq. The directors of the company are Walter Tomkins, President ; Samuel C. Jones, Secretary ; Calvin Tomkins, James G. Lindsley, Edward Tompkins, George Brown, and Joseph T. Tomkins.
SHIP-BUILDING-BOAT-YARDS.
Rondout having for fifty years been the most important port upon the west side of the Hudson between New York and Albany, the building of all kinds of water-craft, the general fitting up of the same, and the making of any and all needed repairs have constituted one of the most im- portant industries of the place.
Johu MeCauslund came from Baltimore about. the time of the opening of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, 1827- 28, and immediately entered upon the business of boat- building. His place was in what is now known as the " Basin," at Rondout. He was a man of ability and energy, engaging in his various enterprises with great activity. He originated many improvements in the construction and fitting up of all descriptions of water-craft. Many of his inven- tions and methods are now in common use, and employed by men who, perhaps, never heard that commerce is in- debted to John McCausland for these various constructions. Ile died in 1863.
The present McCausland boat-yard was established in 1863 by two of the sons of John, Jefferson and James McCausland. It is located at the South Rondout ferry. This yard was originally established by Thomas J. Burgess, 1838 to 1840. Afterwards the business was carried on for a time by the firm of Bridges & Bishop. Subsequently Mr. Burgess again managed the yard for a time, selling out in 1863 to the MeCaasland Brothers. In 1877, Jeffer- son MeCausland purchased the share of James in the busi- ness, and has since carried it on alone. The variety of craft built in this yard comprises ice-barges, sloops, steam- boats, schooners, occasionally building vessels of 600 tous burden. The number of men employed varies largely with the demands of business. Sometimes not more than twenty are at work, and again rising to seventy-five or eighty. Mr. McCausland has recently constructed three barges for the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company. The " sectional dock" of this yard is the only one at the present time between New York and Albany. Very large boats, and vessels with a capacity of 600 tons, are readily taken out of the water for repairs.
The boat-building operations of Morgan Everson were also of considerable magnitude. His yard was at the " Basin," and was established uot far from the same time as that of John McCausland.
The Williams boat-yard was an old place of business. This was nearly on the site of the MeEntee foundry. He was the first man that erected at Rondont sectional docks for hauling out and handling boats to be repaired.
The Allen boat-yard at Ponckhockie has a set of boat- ways, and a general business of building and repairing is done there. The steamboat " Robert L. Stevens" was built at Ponckhockie.
The boat-yard of C. M. King & Brother is located at Kingston Point, and is an enterprise of recent years.
William Gokey was a boat-builder, preceding the Allens, at Kingston Point. He afterwards removed to Jersey City.
THE BLUESTONE BUSINESS OF W. B. FITCHI.
This is one of the oldest and best-known establishments engaged in the North River bluestone trade. The business was opened in 1839, on a comparatively small scale, by the brothers Simeon Fitch and W. B. Fitch,* but has grown year by year until it has reached its present proportions. The quarries from which the main supplies of stone are drawu are located in the towns of Hurley, Marbletown, and Woodstock, at distances of from eight to twelve miles from the yard. Fifteen hundred men and 100 teams are employed in getting the stone out and in transporting it from the quar- ries to the wharf. In addition to the stock thus obtained in the innediate vicinity of Kingston, at times considerable quantities are brought from points along the line of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, some oven coming from the State of Pennsylvania. For the purposes for which it is principally used,-curbing and guttering streets and flag- ging sidewalks, -North River bluestone is in many respects far superior to any other material that Nature has furnished ready made, or that the art of man has devised, and for these purposes it is in constant demand in every section of the country not so far distant from the base of supply that the expense of transportation precludes its use.
There is also a large demand for manufactured stone, -- that is, stone sawed, rubbed, planed, and axed, and fash- ioned into sills, lintels, hearths, mantels, steps, coping, etc. For these purposes it has long been a favorite material. The ease with which it is worked and its great strength have contributed to its popularity, and it is now being used for the fronts of first-class buildings.
Large quantities of bluestone tiling are also made. and the dark squares in the so-called marble floors now fre- quently found in the large hotels, bank, insurance, and leading business buildings, are generally North River blue- stone, and not marble. Mr. Fitch is at all times prepared to furnish North River bluestone in any and all of the forms known to the trade. Ile is an acknowledged leader in the business, and is held in high esteem by his competitors, as well as by his customers. The shipments are made from his wharf at Wilbur, and reach almost every city on the Atlantic coast, or that can be reached by water. New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hart- ford, Norwich, Stonington, New London, Boston, Provi- dence, New Bedford, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and other points farther South, are served by the cargo, and from these places the stone is again shipped to interior cities
# Simeon Fitch died io 1877, and W. B. Fitch is now sole proprictor.
Photo. by Lewis, Kingston.
Luketsone
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
and towns. From ten to fifteen vessels, and frequently a larger number, their tonnage varying from 150 to 250 tons, are engaged during the season of navigation in this carry- ing trade.
The handsome office of Mr. Fitch was built in 1870, and is not only a model of convenience, but also of fine architectural taste. Standing in the midst of the acenmu- lated masses of stone stacked in many varying forms, the whole presents a picturesque view. Abont half a mile from the yard are the buildings for the mechanical opera- tions of sawing, rubbing, and planing. The water-power of the Twaalf Kill is used to some extent, but steam is largely employed.
Originally the business was confined to the purchase and sale of the stone as it came from the quarries. The manu- faeturing enterprises have all been adopted within twenty years. All descriptions of finely. finished stone-work used in building are furnished by Mr. Fitch. From 60 to So men are employed in the yard and the mills, varying some- what as the pressure of business may demand. The two brothers Fitch were associated here for the long period of thirty-eight years,-a partnership terminated only by the death of Simeon, in 1877. W. B. Fitch gives to the busi- ness, in all its departments, his close personal supervision. M. M. Hommel is general superintendent, Egbert Hammel assistant superintendent, F. L. Rogers general bookkeeper.
OTHER DEALERS IN BLUESTONE.
The Sweeney yard is also located at Wilbur. This was founded by the late E. Sweeney, and is now conducted by his sons. New buildings have recently been erected, and the work is being pushed at the present time with consider- able activity. The machinery for rubbing, sawing, and grooving is new, and operated by steam ; 20 to 30 hands are employed.
Austin Herrick, formerly of Mahlen, i- the superintend- ent of the stone-cutting department, Anthony Davis meas. urer, and Levi Rocsa is the general foreman.
Other yards at Wilbur are carried on by Nathaniel Booth, by Charles Honunel, by J. Mills & Brother, and there is also the Halliban yard. These are not engaged largely at the present time, but all have done more or less to give importance to the bluestone trade of the city.
QUARRYING.
The valuable strata of Corniferous limestone appearing at the surface within the limits of the city of Kingston afford the very durable building-material for massive works. Indeed, the old stone houses of early Kingston, whose walls survived the fires of the Revolution. were mainly of this material. Vaughan's invaders could only burn out the wood-work of these solid structures, and many of them, improved with neat modern roos, windows, and cornices, are yet handsome residences. The rock in the quarries is broken out in large irregular blocks and shipped in that form. The piers of the East River Bridge, between New York and Brooklyn, are being constructed in part of this excellent material. The Second Reformed church of Kings- tou was built of this stone. The industry is an important one to the city, giving employment to a large number of nen. Further facts appear in the chapter upon Geology,
and also in the annexed sketch of Unke Noone, E-q., which finds an appropriate place in this connection.
LUKE NOONE,
son of Martin and Ann (Gately ) Noone, was born in Ahas- eeragh, county Galway, Ireland, Nov. 24, 1822. He spent his boyhood at home, received a fair common-school educa- tion, and learned the business of a stone-cutter of his father, who was a stone-contractor.
With his sister Mary he sailed from Liverpool in March, 1848, in the ship " James Stephens," and lamled in Boston the same spring. Ilis first work was in stone-entting and contracting for jobs on the New York and Erie Railroad, in the year 1848. On November 11th of the same year he came to Kingston, and for two years was engaged in this place and at Troy as journeyman at his trade. In 1850 he formed a partnership with three other men, under the firm-name of Edward Murray & Co., which firm con- structed the way-lock at West Troy, and in 1852 took the contract and furnished the stone for the Second Reformed church in Kingston. The firm of Noone & Fitzgerald took the contract for lock No. 2, on the Erie Canal, near Albany, in 1850, and in 1855 to 1857 furnished cut stoue and constructed the lower lock at Fort Aun, N. Y. Mr. Noone continued business alone after this for many years. and among his most important contracts were furnishing cut stone for a portion of the Harlem bridge, in New York; a way-lock on the Champlain Canal above Waterford ; a guard-lock at Cohoes ; a blast-furnace for the firm of Heury Burilen & Son, of Troy ; for the river wharf for the Water- vliet Arsenal at that place; for the sea wall for the Bat- tery in New York City ; a part of the cut stone for the fort at Sandy Hook, in charge of Gen. Delafield; a portion of the stone used in the construction of the new capitol in Albany ; and for the bridge across the Hudson at Alhany ; also two stones, weighing some fourteen tous each, for the Dadley Observatory at Albany.
In 1870, Mr. Noone associated with him Mr. Frank Madden, since which time the firm of Noone & Madden has been engaged largely in the stone business, and have fur- uished a part of the stone for the East River bridge, between Brooklyn and New York. They have kept in almost con- stant employ one hundred and thirty men and from eighteen to twemy-four teams, quarrying their stone in Kingston City, hauling to the Hudson, and by means of river trans- portation have shipped to distant points for the construction of both private and public works.
Mr. Noone has been a director of the Kingston National Bank for several years, and one of the trustees of the Kingston Savings-Bank since its organization.
Ile is politically identified with the Democratic party ; was one of the trustees of the village for two years, one of the supervisors of the city of Kingston, a delegate to the Democratie State Convention hell in Albany in 1877, and also to the State Convention held in Syraense in 1879.
Mr. Noone is known to the people of King-ton as an active business man, and has, by industry and judicious management, been successful not only in developing largely the stone products of Ulster County, but in securing for himself a competeney. Hle marriedl, Feb. 16, 1854. Miss Mary, daughter of James and Jane Dimond, of Rondont.
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Their children are Jane and Anna. Mr. Noone, accom- panied hy his wife, visited his native country in 1870, traveling through its most interesting and attractive places. Their residence in Kingston, built of brick and cut gray stone in 1875, is among the finest and most substantial structures in Ulster County.
BRICK-MAKING.
The Yard of Cordts & Hutton .- This city has one of the largest brick-yards on the Hudson River between Hay- erstraw and Albany, and probably the very largest, as to the number of bricks manufactured, of any on the entire length of the river. This is the yard of Cordts & Hutton, situated midway between Kingston Point and Steep Rocks, within the city limits. The yard fronts on the river nine hundred feet. Back of the yard is an inexhaustible bank of clay, a great deal of which has been nucovered and brouglit nemer the yard by favorable " slides" dming the winter of 1870-80. There is a kiln-shed, eight hundred feet in length, running north and south, and an additional one, three hundred feet in length, from east to west. The dock is to be extended out into the river forty feet, to the length of the long kiln-shed, Three hundred feet of the distance is already complete, with the exception of " filling in," and the whole work will be done as soon as possible. This will! greatly add to the facilities for loading ves-els. A new shed and new trestle-work has been placed over four of the pits. Thi- shed is an extensive one, and reaches two hun- dred and seventy-five feet. North of the engine-house there are three pits, and southwest of it another, but con- meeting with the main shafting, making eight pits in all. J'atent " frictions" have been put on six of the pits. There are nine hundred feet of shafting, which is driven by one of the best and most powerful engines used in the manu- facture of brick in the State. It is of one hundred and twenty -five horse-power, and is placed in an engine-house which in every way is in keeping with it. During the past winter a new fire room, thirty-eight feet long and six- teen feet wide, has been added to the engine house, in which have been placed three new boilers four feet in diam- eter and twenty-four feet in length. A just pride is taken in the engine, boiler- and engine-house by the engineer, John F. Ticijan, and Ins brother Theodore, the fireman, as the boilers and cugine have all the modern improvements. The new boilers were furnished by MeEntee & Dillon, of this city, and are excellent ones. They have on them an improved steam-drum. The firm have a carpenter and blacksmith, who are busily employed during the whole year. Mr. John Sleigh is the carpenter and Justin Al- brecht the blacksmith. Mr. Albrecht is an excellent me- chanic, and, although only twenty-two years of age, is a man of inventive genius, and of great benefit to the yard. lle has invented a patent dump for a cant, which works with a lever and a brake, which is operated by the breech- ing of the horse. When the horse lays back in the breech- ing. he applies the brake to both wheels, and thereby has things all his own way. His best invention is a clevis to go on the bushing of a tempering-wheel, so that when a break occurs a new one can be put on without removing the wheel from the pit. This clevis is put on in sections
with screws and bolts ; the old ones bad to be heated, thus causing delay and expense. These three inventions, if patented, would probably rid Mr. Albrecht of any further handling of the hammer and bellows. A visitor to the yard-barn will find, instead of the loose-legged and long- cared mule, fourteen as fine, large, well-fed, and well-kept horses as can be seen anywhere. The stable is in charge of Mr. Heury Yess, and the appearance of the horses and the amount of work they can perform are a sufficient ree- ommendation for his abilities. There are on the yards 19 carts and 7 wagons. The firm have on hand 2000 cords of wood, and are constantly purchasing more. This does not seem to be a large quantity, but if the cords were piled continuously one would have to travel three miles and one hundred and sixty feet to get past the pile. This pile is " banched," so the visitor will not have to walk so far to view it. The firm employ 110 men nearly the entire sea- son ; all these men are residents of the place, and have the interests of their employers at heart. They are as well paid as any employees of brick-yards in this region, and are of much better habits and morals than imported ones. The superintendent of the yard is Mr. C. II. Van Wart. The foremen on the yard are Messrs. Frank and Herman Koktz and Richard Ehnendorf; the two assistant foremen are Messrs. N. Lutz and P. Leminster. The agent of the firm for the sale of bricks in New York and elsewhere is Mr. Robert Main. These are all competent meu, and old em- ployces. The number of bricks manufactured per day at present is 110,000. The number of bricks made last year was 16,000,000.
Other important business enterprises are the several foundries and machine-shops of the city.
The Excelsior Iron-works are located on Union Avenue, corner of Albany, and are doing a large and successful bus- iness. The iron interest known as the " Ulster County Furnace" was established in 1830 by James W. Baldwin. It is located on St. James Street, and its proprietors are Henry L. and W. W. Hermance, under the firm-name of Hermance Bros. This establishment is both an iron- and brass-foundry, and manufactures steam-engines, mill-gear- ing. water-wheels of several patterns, bark-mills, besides all manner of castings.
LEWIS N. HERMANCE,
son of John R. Hermance and Elizabeth Near, was born at Upper Red Hook, Columbia Co., N. Y., April 7, 1817. lle received a common-school education, and in early life learned at Upper Red Hook the trunk and harness busi- ness, which he carried on in Rhinebeck until 1847, when he came to Kingston, and for several years was engaged in the manufacture of carriages. In 1860 he purchased the foundry property of the heirs of the late James W. Baldwin, which was established by that gentleman about 1830, and widely known as the " Ulster County Furnace." After two years he associated with him as partner Mr. A. T. Newton (L. N. Hermance & Co.). This firm continned the business until 1873, when his eldest son, Henry L. Hermance, became a member of the firm ( Hermance, New- ton & Co.).
On Dee. 26, 1873, Mr. Hermance was killed on the Erie
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
Railroad by being caught between the door-post of the car in which he had been seated and the platform-rail, while trying to escape ; a freight-train having run into the Orange Express, on which he was riding. His leg was broken in four places, and a piece of the iron railing foreed into his thigh.
In November, 1875, Mr. Newton retired from the firm, and Henry L. associated with him in the business his brother, William W., under the firm-name of " llermance Brothers," who successfully continue the business in 1880.
Besides his business in Kingston, Mr. Hermance was a member of the firm of Gifford Beach & Co., of New York, engaged iu the wholesale of carriage hardware. As a eiti- zen he was progressive, and ready to share the burdeus of public enterprises which commended themselves to his judgment. He was a director of the Rondout and Oswego Railroad, and also a director, and rendered valable and substantial-aid at a most critical time to the New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad. Hle was a director of the State of New York National Bank for many years, and, associated with Elon. Thous Cornell, settled the affairs of the First National Bank of Kingston.
Mr. IFermance was identified with the heaviest business interests of the community, and active and influential in all local enterprises with which he was connected.
He was a man of sound sense, kind impulses, and gen- erous acts, and many, who knew the worth of his timely aid when in straitened circumstances, felt his loss. Ile pos- sessed great force of character, took large risks in business operations, and successfully carried forward whatever he undertook. His life was one of activity and devoted to business interests.
He married, in 1842, Miss Helen Parmelia Milhau, of Upper Red Hook, who died the same year, leaving one son, Henry L., previously alluded to in this sketch. For his second wife he married, in February, 1847, Miss Lavina M., daughter of William Woodworth, of Glasco, Ulster Co. She died July 31, 1858. The children of this union were William W., of the firm of Hermance Brothers, and Mary J. (deceased). His surviving widow, whoiu he married Ang. 14, 1865, is Harriet M., a sister of his second wife, and resides in Kingston, N. Y. .
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In the eastern part is the old-established foundry of MeEntee & Dillun.
Millard James is engaged in situilar business on Prince Street, corner of Dedrick. At Rondout is also located the machine-shop of Thomas Cornell & Co. A visit to it will amply repay any one interested in machinery and mechau- ism, and the visitor will find it as well fitted for the uses it is intended to serve as regards labor-saving machinery and the intelligence of its employees as any in the city or the State. Among the appliances of the shop is a swinging crane, which has been in use about three years, and which, by the muscular development of six men, will swing a weight of 35 tons out of a vessel and on the dock, if such a weight there were to be removed, in so easy a manner that the looker-ou would think that the steamuer itself' could be served the same way if such a proceeding were necessary. Although in use for three years, it is iu such a good state
of repair that the visitor would think it had recently been completed. Three differential pulleys, or rather sets of pulleys, are in use in the machine-shop, the smallest of which will lift a ton, the next in use two tous and a half, and the largest, with the aid of the biceps and one emu- ployee, will pick up from the floor an article weighing eight tons. The wrought-iron shaft to be put in the propeller " Thomas Diekson," to which will be attached an eight-foot Delemater wheel, and which shaft is twenty feet and nine inches in length, and weighs two and one-half tons, was put into the turning-lathe and taken out by one man with the aid of the larger.
Another piece of mechanism of interest is a drilling- machine, which, if it were a gun, would be called a " Hay- stack Revolver." An employee using this machine can put a barrel in front of him and drill a hole anywhere he wants to, as the machine is of india-rubber, or something similar, and can be used for drilling almost anywhere. Another labor-saving ruachine deserving of mention is an automatie bolt-cutter and nut-tapper, patented in 1875, and constructed iu Buffalo, which took a premium at the Cen- tenmial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It is a deal more intri- cate than a Gatling guu, and while a bolt is being eut at one end of the machine the nut can be tapped at the other. It feeds itself with oil, and will eut a bolt from one-quarter of an inch to three inches in thickness, and do it well. There are probably no shops along the river between New York City and Albany provided with a machine of this make. The other departments boast of wuch labor- saving machinery and have intelligent workmen, and all the employees take a just pride in the fact that any of the steamers in the line can be brought to the shop and have a new engine and boiler put in them if necessary.
The manufacture of carriages is another industry of con- siderable importauce. The principal establishments are those of Du Bois & Freer. St. James, near Clinton Avenne; Henry Koltz, Foxhall Avenue, corner of Hasbrouck Ave- nue; John M. Mayer, Mill Street, near Hasbrouck Ave- nue ; Abram J. Perrine, 68 Washington Avenue; William Peters, 49 Washington Avenue; Roger O'Donnell, 92 Clinton Avenne; John A. Shultis, St. James Street, near Union Avenue ; G. & S. Wells, 130 St. James Street.
The business at Rondout is shown to some extent in the following notice of a prominent citizen, now deceased :
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