USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. II > Part 56
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METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF PORT JACKSON.
The earliest incorporation of a Methodist Church seems to have been Jan. 27, 1847. A. C. Fields and Lucas Krom presided at the meeting for organization. The trustees elected were Asa Miller, Cornelius Kortright, Lucas Krom. H. Dewitt Hoorubeck, Matthew Atkins, Caleb C. Roosa, Abraham T. E. Green, Benjamin Townsend, Benjamin F. Watkins. The instrument was verified before Abram G. Hardenbergh, justice of the peace. Asa Miller is under- stood to have been in some respects the founder, or at least an carvest religions worker when there were few or none to aid him. A house of worship was not erected until some years later. The subsequent history is given in the following account furnished by the present pastor :
The organization for the purpose of building a Methodist Episcopal church at Port Jackson took place at the house of Joseph Wood, Jr. (now owned by Calvin Markle, Ost. 16, 1857. Abraham Brundage, the preacher in charge of Rochester Circuit, was chairman of the meeting; William C. Coddington, secretary. At this meeting Jacob Dewitt. Joseph Wood, Jr., Solomon Krom, Benjamin R. Mowris, and William C. Coddington were elected trustees. No work was done on the church building, however, until there was another election of trustees, in 1859, at the house of Moses I. Schoonmaker, February 14th, as follows: Lucas Krom, John L. Krom. William Webster, Solomon Markle, Jacob Dewitt, C. T. Schoonmaker, Joseph Wood.
The building committee were appointed Teb. 21, 1-50. and were Solomon Markle, John L. Krom, and Lucas Krom. The church site was donated by John D. Schoon- maker (now deceased). The building was commeneed in the spring of this year, and was completed at a cost of about $1800. It was dedicated about the 1st of November. The
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
size of the church is 36 by 46 feet,-a frame building painted white, and will seat 300 persons. It was repaired and repainted in 1871, at a cost of about $600; rededi- cated the fall of that year.
The church is located in the small but pleasant village of Port Jackson, near the Hudson and Delaware Canal, in a delightful valley, from whence can be seen the Overlook, Paltz Point, and Miunioosaki. Lying, as it does, so cosily among the hills, it seems protected by the power of God, and, in reality, it has been. The society in its struggle has risen in numbers from one member ( Asa Miller, a New England Yaukce) to a membership of over one hundred. The church property is now valued at $2500.
The pastors of the church from the time of building have been as follows: 1859, E. E. Pinney; 1860, M. Couch- man and Mr. Wilson ; 1861, M. Couchman and D. M. Powell; 1862-63, Joseph Elliot; 1864-66, O. P. Cran- dall; 1867-68, Fletcher Hamblin ; 1869-70, E. II. W. Barden; 1871, A. H. Haynes ; 1872, G. C. Ezra ; 1873- 75, D. M. Powell; 1876, William D. Fero; 1877-78, Charles Artman ; 1879, L. A. Robbins.
The Port Jackson appointment was a part of Rochester Circuit until the spring of 1877, when it was made a sepa- rate charge called Accord.
The present officers are the following : Trustees, Mar- shall Wood, L. B. Stevens, M. D. Brodhead, John Ver- nooy, Philip Stein ; Stewards, Isaae Moule, M. D. Brod- head, Marshall Wood, L. B. Stevens, John Vernooy, James I. Davis, John H. Middah, Jacob Van Vleet, and George O. Van Etten ; Class-Leaders, I. Moule, J. Vernooy, J. H. Middah, J. Osterhoudt, G. Van Etten ; Sunday-school Superintendent, L. B. Stevens.
The church filed a new certificate of incorporation under date of Aug. 26, 1865, and the trustees then were Calvin Markle, William Kelder, Cornelius T. Schoonmaker, Ed- ward Buckley, Lucas Kroin, Solomon Markle. The origi- nal corporate name was the Methodist Episcopal Church of Rochester.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF CHERRYTOWN.
This society effected an organization Oet. 1, 1867. F. Hamblin and L. B. Trimble were inspectors of election. The trustees chosen were Brundage B. Peck, William V. Bergen, John Quick, Thomas Mackey, Henry D. Brod- head, Jacob D. W. Schoonmaker. The instrument was verified before M. D. Wagoner, notary public, and recorded June 23, 1868. They have a house of worship, small but convenient, and meetings are very well sustained. The society is in connection with the Kerhonkton charge.
THE METHODIST CHURCH OF ALLIGERVILLE.
This society was organized in 1857, with 6 members. The house of worship was erected the same year at a cost of $1500. It will seat 250. No further statisties have been received in reply to our inquiries, but carly Methodist work in this vicinity is very well shown in the notes on other churches.
VIII-BURIAL-PLACES.
These are mummerous, scattered throughout all parts of the town ; many of them simply family-plats where, ae-
cording to the custom of earlier years, the pioneers were laid to rest upon their old homesteads, within sight of the dwellings where they had lived and beneath the soil of the fields they had tilled. The principal public grounds may be briefly mentioned :
The old Schoonmaker burial-yard is on the south side of the Rondout, opposite Accord. It is on a kuoll near this that the house of Capt. Joachim Schoonmaker is sup- posed to have stood, and his remains no doubt rest in this ancient ground. Many of his descendants are buried here. There are but few old gravestones remaining, and little or no historical information can be gleaned from dates, In later years the ground has been improved, and it is still in use. A few fine memorial tablets are now erected.
The Krom burial-place, in what is known as Newtown, is an old affair, dating back to the early years, and largely de- voted to the use of the Krom family. It is in very good preservation. Binials take place there at the present time, and some fine monuments are erected.
The smaller grounds are many of them rich in family reminiscenees and worthy of more careful preservation. The one in the Vernooy neighborhood was undoubtedly established by that family, and their various members were mostly buried there in the earlier times. There is also a burial-ground in Cherrytown; one near the Caleb Roosa homestead ; one on the place now occupied by the Dumond family, which was formerly an old homestead of one branch of the Schoonmaker family ; and one on the Dewitt home- stead, opposite the last one mentioned.
The old burial-grounds near the Reformed church are full of historie interest. Church services, as shown else- where, dating back to the patent of 1703, and evidently some years earlier, it is probable that at that date burials took place here; that for one hundred and seventy-five years the dead have been brought to these sacred plae s and laid to rest. Here generations long since themselves passed away once gathered around open graves and saw their loved ones buried, while from the lips of the vener- able pastor fell the sweetest words of divine consolation, " I am the resurrection and the life !"-words which have lost pone of their power by the flight of years.
The burial ground at Pine Bush was also used in the first settlement. The ohl red stones, a few of which are standing there, mark an early period. Perhaps the victims of the Indian massacre mentioned elsewhere may have been brought to this ground for burial.
KYBRIKE RURAL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
This association was incorporated Aug. 27, 1868. Solo- mon Sahler was chairman of the meeting, and Daniel Schoonmaker secretary. The trustees chosen were Henry M. Schoonmaker, Cyrus Depuy, W. H. Hamden, Paul Steen, Jaines B. Sahiler, John II. Van Wagener. The proceedings were verified before A. R. Van Wagoner, jus- tice of the peace, and recorded Ang. 31, 1868. The old burial-ground at this place has been improved, a large ad- ditional tract purchased, laid out into a handsome eeme- tery in modern style, and, as the plans of the projectors are more fully developed, it will be a place of beauty,-an honor to the neighborhood and to the town.
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TOWN OF ROCHESTER.
IX .- SOCIETIES.
The most important social organization in Rochester is the lodge of Odd Fellows, which has met regularly every Saturday night for nearly thirty years.
ACCORD LODGE, No. 160," I. O. O. F.,
was instituted April 24, 1851, by G. A. Adams, D. D. G. M. The principal officers then chosen and installed were J. J. Snyder, N. G .; A. T. D. Green, V. G .; E. M. Secor, Rec. Sec. ; Lucas Krum, Treas. The first candidates ini- tiated were E. F. Bell, M. I. Schoonmaker, E. Westbrook, S. D. Terwilliger. The organization took place at the Rechabite hall, in Pine Bush. In a few months it was removed to its present location at Accord. The lodge has been a success from the first. It has a vested fund of 81000, and property valued at $1000. Its lodge-room, upon the third floor of the Schoonmaker Hotel, is hand- somely furnished and conveniently arranged. The original number was 421. In the consolidation that took place in the State during the period when Odd-Fellowship declined Rochester Lodge received the number 160, by which it is now known. The principal officers at the present time (February, 1880) are Rev. Josiah Tetley, N. G. ; Jonas Decker, V. G .; Josephus Barley, P. S .; Lucas Krum, Treas. ; Joseph HI. Schoonmaker, R. S .; M. I. Schoon- maker, Con .; John D. Winfield, Joseph K. Hoorubeek, John J. Schoonmaker, Trustees.
X .- INCIDENTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST.
The suicide of Jacob Coddington, who was then keeping the hotel of what is now Accord, occurred in the early part of this century, and was an event of tragie horror, shock- ing the community and long remembered. The spot where his body was found is still pointed out not far from the hotel.
In 186S a murder took place in this town, abont two miles below Accord. A stranger called at the hotel in the evening and made some inquiry about the roads. Those who were on the steps remembered afterwards that there seemed to be a woman in the buggy, which stood in the street. The stranger left, got into the buggy, and drove on. Later that night a woman was found nearly dead by the side of the road. She was carried to the house of Mr. West- brook, and died the next day. It was at first supposed she had been thrown from the buggy by accident, that the horse had run away, but an examination showed that it was a case of brutal murder. The circumstances soon con- tected the affair with the stranger who had called at the Hotel. The tracks of the buggy were traeed down the val- ley road for a short distance where the driver had turned around and driven back, passed the hotel, and beyond on the road to Wawarsing. The track could not, however, be traced far, and an impenetrable mystery hung over the affair. The coroner's jury secured no clue to the murder. Arrests were made in Wawarsing, but there was no evidence against the parties of any force, and they were discharged. The case was written up by the New York papers. The omaty offered large rewards. A copy of the New York
World, with a paragraph stating that a paper containing candy. found in the pockets of the murdered woman, had on it the name of Mr. Hoornbeck, fell into the hands of a man at Wurtsboro', Sullivan Co., by that name. He remembered having sold candy to a Mrs. Smith about that time. This led to the discovery that a Mr. Smith liviaz at Wurtsboro' had about the time of the murder started to take his wife to spend a few weeks with her friends in Olive. An investigation of this clew was at once made. The body -was exhumed, and identified by the friends. Meanwhile, the suspected husband, Mr. Smith, had left at the first inti- mation of these proceedings, and, notwithstanding the large rewards offered and the efforts made, he was never found, and the veil of mystery then dropped upon the proceedings has never yet been lifted.
In the carly days of Rochester punishment by sitting in the stocks and by public whipping was common for petty offenses. The stocks are said to have been erected near the present Schoonmaker Hotel at Accord, and the whipping also took place in that vicinity, perhaps near the school- house, where the old town-house of 1705 stood.
The site of the old fort at Pine Bush was at the corner of the road, on the top of Deyo's IIill. The old fort itself stood down to later years, being destroyed by fire in 1868. It was pierced with portholes, and was a massive building capable of vigorous and prolonged defense.
It is a tradition of the town that when the first white settlers came to this place, there was a large buttonwood- tree near the junction of the stream south of Accord with the Rondout, and that upon this tree was carved a human face; that this was done by the Indians as a memento of an Indian battle, fought there many years before. The Dutch are said to have called it Mom-baceus, "silent face."
The following military order was found by J. H. Van Wagenen, of Kyserike, while repairing his house. It is a rare historic relie, and was taken out from behind a win- dow.casing, where it had perhaps been drawn by a mouse. The recovery of this paper occurred Aug. 5, 1857, just one hundred years to a day from the time it was written :
"To BENJAMIN VAN WAGESEN, JUN., greeting :
" I do hereby command you in his majestics Name for to warn all the men whose Names are wrote on the back side hereof to be and appear in Kingston, at the house of Coll. Josiah Hasbrouck, this twelfth day of September, to march from there with me directly t Albany, and hercof faill nott.
"Given under my hand this 5th day of August, 1757. "JACOB HORNEREK."
The following are the names of the persons to be warned ont : Cornelius Van Wagenen, Anrdt Van Wagenen. Thomas Graham, John Lowe, Edward Wood, Jr., Daniel Wood, Henry Harp, Petere Harp, Ephriam Depuy.
XI .- INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
Agriculture is the most important business carried on in Rochester. Between the Shawangunk range on the south- east and the Catskills on the northwest is a wide area of arable laud. This is composed of lowlands along the stream .. uplands moderately rolling, with here and there hills of higher elevation. All this constitutes an excellent agricul- tural region, and there are many fine farms with handsme buildings. The produetions of the soil are shown in the
# Formerly No. 421.
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----
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
most compact form by the statisties compiled from the census of 1875.
The production of wintergreen oil constituted at one time something of an industry in this town, and several persons were engaged in the distillation. The wintergreens were gathered from the mountains around, where they are abun- dant. Little or nothing is now done in this line. Quar- rying is an industry of considerable importance. The mill- stones taken from the Shawangunk range are the best in the world. From the Catskills are obtained a fine quality of bluestone for flagging, steps, coping, and general building purposes.
INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS.
According to the census of 1875, the value of the farms in Rochester was 81,282,930; buildings other than dwell- ings, $212,585 ; stock, $182,000; tools and implements, $51,764; fertilizer> bought, $2154 worth ; gross sales, $70,115 ; acres plowed, 5580 ; aeres pastured. 5744; acres mown, 7933 ; hay produced, 8050 tons; grass seed, 60 bushels ; buckwheat, 17,839 bushels ; eorn, 26, 111 bushels ; oats, 33,305 bushels; rye, 14,469 bushels ; spring wheat, 25 bushels; winter wheat, 4946 bushels; corn-fodder, 4 acres ; beans, 22 bushels ; potatoes, 19,488 bushels ; apples, 28,842 bushels; cider made, 927 barrels; grapes, 157 pounds; wine, 5 gallons ; maple-sugar, 399 pounds ; maple- syrup, 106 gallons ; honey collected, 1005 pounds ; horses on farms, 816; mules, 40 ; value of poultry, $4944 ; value sold, 82389; value of eggs sold, $3763; meat cattle on farms, 1412; milch cows, 1213; beef slaughtered, 38; hutter made, 105,724 pounds; sheep shorn, 696; weight of clip, 2250 pounds ; lambs raised, 564 ; sheep slaughtered, 51; killed by dogs, 34; swine on farms, 2346; pork made previous year, 211,615 pounds.
ANCIENT MILLS.
Under date of Sept. 14, 1703, as already given, Joachim Schoonmaker's request for a conveyance ineludes half of the stream of the Mombaceus Kill, " where now the sme- mill stands."
We find the following under date of March 15, 1709 :
" Tyoudeit Cool desires a conveyance for the lond that lies behind his land, betwerd David Dubois his land and the land of Capt. Jon- chim Schoonmaker, to run between their bounds backward in the woods to make The quantity of fifty acres; granted. And this said Leendert Cool desires a conveyance for a full and the stream of the creek called Peter's Kill : that is, the highest fall above Gigsbert Van Garden and Alexander Rosenkrans theire mill, and below the fly or marsh taken up by the said Alexander Rosenkrans, and two acres of land below said fall, and twelve acres above said fall, on both sides of said Kill or Creek; granted, on condition that said Leendert Cool build or cause to be builded a war-mill on said fall in two years' time from the date above mentioned."
Tennis Oosterhoudt was granted " the just half of a streame of the Mombaccus Kill, being the north side of said kill where his corne-mill stands." This conveyance was Sept. 22, 1703, and shows that the grist-mill was al- rrady built ; and this is another of the evidences that the settlement in this vicinity was really made some years pre- vious to the granting of the patent by Queen Anne in 1703.
To Anthony and Joost Hourubeck was granted " ali that fall and stren of the Mombaceus Kill known by the name
of the great or high fall on said kill, with free liberty and license to build mills."
To Solomon Davis was granted " all that certain tract of land beginning by a great fall called Hoenek, from thence up the ereck Northerly to the High Mountains, including several small parcels of lands called by the Indian names Wassachawaninck, Eghhoneck, Mattegonighouck, Tamma- manoghinck, Ragawack ; also all the lands from the bounds of Kahangsink to the high mountains."
In 1751 the following millers of Rochester had their " brand-marks" recorded : Annatje Oosterhoudt, Benjamin Schoomuaker, Simon J. Van Wagenen, Cornelius Hoora- beck, Jacobus Quick, Johannis Vernooy; 1755, Jonathan Westbrook, Benjamin Bevier, Andries Dewitt (son of Eg- bert Dewitt ).
This shows the mills of that date in both Wawarsing and Rochester.
Ta Alexander Rosckrans was granted "all that certain marsh or fly, and woodland thereto adjoining, and situate above the mill of Alexander and Gysbert Van Gorder, on both sides of said mill, ereck, or kill," ete., cte., ete.
MILLS OF MODERN TIMES.
Commencing in the west part of the town, there is a saw-mill at Yagerville, not far from the town line, on a small ereek which unites with the Rondout, in the town of Wawarsing. Upon the Vernooy Creek were the mills of the Vernooy Falls Company. This was an enterprise of some magnitude. A stock company was formed, a large tract of land bought. The timber used was largely that from which the bark had been peeled by the owners of the Samsouville tanneries.
The general result was not a suceess, and nothing has been done for perhaps twenty-five years except to eolleet taxes from non-resident owners of the woodland. There was a saw-mill lower down on the creek, bear the Wawar- sing line, operated for a few years by Earl West. Upon the Mombacens Creek, above Cherrytown, is the saw-mill of A. Swuaby. This was a well-built and finely-furnished mill, and did a large business. It was given up some years ago. Oa the same stream, at Upper Cherrytown, is a saw- taill, now owned by Andrew Green, formerly known as the Schanck Vanderveer mill. This is still in operation. Two miles below is the saw-mill of Isaac Trumbull, established many years ago by Sherman & Knapp. Below, on the Mombaceus Kill, at the great falls, are the saw-mill and grist-mill of Perry Shaw. The grist-mill only is now in operation. This is the site of the old mills of Anthony and Joust Hoornbeck, for which they obtained a conveyance of the water-privilege and adjoining real estate at the first settlement of the town.
Tracing a branch of the Mombaccus, in the vicinity of Samsonville. i- the saw-mill of John Traver. The stream makes a bend and enters the town of Olive for a short dis- tance. Just below, where it again enters the town of Rochester, is the saw-mill ut Peter De Witt. Near, and a short distance above the junction of a tributary known as Beaver Damn Creek, are the mills of L. W. Lawrence for swing, entting out, heading, and turning. These are re- cently established. On the Beaver Damn Creek., just within
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TOWN OF ROCHESTER.
the town of Olive, is an old water- privilege, where was lo- cated the Sahler saw-mill, which for a time did a large busi- ness. The mills were abandoned some years ago. Below the junction above mentioned, erected only a few years since, are the saw- and heading-mills of W. H. Brown, originally built by H. II. Gale. On the Pacama Fly is a saw-mill owned by Jacob E. Baker.
At Mill Hook is located the paper-mill of Davis & Young. They manufacture straw wrapping-paper, and their works have a capacity of about two tons finished material per day. They employ 12 to 15 hands. This paper-mill was .estab- lished about 1854 by A. S. Schoonmaker. The operating of the mill passed to several proprietors before Davis & Young, though Mr. Schoonmaker has retained all the time an interest in the property. Mr. Davis engaged in busi- uess here about fifteen years ago. At the same site Davis & Young also have a grist-mill. It is the regular successor of the "corne-mill" spoken of as already built in the eon- veyance to Teunis Oosterhoudt, under date of Sept. 22, 1703. Messrs. Young & Davis obtain their power by a race three-quarters of a mile long, thus securing a fall of considerable height. The water is drawn from the Met- tacahonts.
Opposite the mills of Davis & Young, and just below the junction of the streams at Mill Hook, Simon Baker has a saw-mill, grist-mill, and distillery. These are upon the site of the old saw-mill spoken of as already built in the convey- ance to Joachim Schoonmaker, Sept. 22, 1703. There was also a grist-mill for some years above the junction of the two streams at Mill Hook, probably erected by the Westbrooks at an early date, and abandoned forty or filty years ago. At Alligerville Thomas Schoonmaker had a grist-mill for several years. It was destroyed by fire ten or twelve years ago, and not rebuilt. On the Stony Kill is a saw-mill owned by Alexander Decker. Below these is another saw- mill, owned by the heirs of James S. Markle. On Peters Kill is a saw-mill owned by the heirs of George Davis. Farther down, on the same kill, is a saw-mill still somewhat in use by B. II. Depuy. This is perhaps the site sought for by Leendert Kool in a petition for a conveyance, March 15, 1709, or of the other mills alluded to in the same con- veyance, as already mentioned. Near the junction of the Peters Kill with Rondout, Peter B. Davis has a grist-mill and the water-power is used to some extent for turning.
On the stream that empties into the Rondout below Accord is located the grist-mill of Lueas Krom, now in operation ; built forty years ago. Below, on the same stream, is the saw-mill of J. H. Middagh, now unused. Farther down the stream is the saw-mill of Joseph Barley. It was on this stream, at the present Duryea residence, that the old grist-mill of the Westbrooks was located. Suitewhat below, Cornelius Schoonmaker had a grist-mill abutit 1800, and for some years later. In earlier years, at Mill Hook, was a woolen-factory, operated by John Gue, who was a justice of the peace. The same building cou- ribetes in part the paper-mill of Davis & Young.
XIL .-- MILITARY.
In the wars preceding the Revolution it does not appear that the citizens of Rochester had any especial share.
There may have been a few men in the old French war, for Rochester was already a thriving settlement in the war period, 1747-56. The names of Rochester men no doubt occur in the rolls of Ulster County militia, given elsewhere. in this volume. It appears that this town assisted in main- taining rangers on the frontier in 1763.
In October, 1777, the town of Rochester expended .C66 in clothing men raised to go to Kingston. This appears, from the treasurer's report, to have been in October. Kings- ton was burned the 16th by the enemy. It does not ap- pear whether these men were raised before that date in anticipation of danger, or whether the call immediately followed that invasion.
In a pamphlet published in 1846, and regarded as reli- able by those acquainted with the general facts, we take the following incidents relating in part to the town of Roch- ester :
MURDER OF SHURKER AND MILLER.
" The events of this narrative imust have taken place in '77 or '7S. There were three families living at that time in the vicinity of Pine- bush, in the town of Rochester, wbere Mr. Churchill# now lives, by the name of Shurker, Miller, and Baker. It appears that Shurker was suspected of being a Tory ; and that a short time previous to the occurreneo of the following events a Whig neighbor had been at his house, and intimated as much to him, personally ; and that he then made the strongest attestations of fidelity to the cause of liberty ; an.1 that this was overheard by some Tories, and communicated to the Indians. Living thus on the outposts, and in imminent danger from both Indians and Tories, those people bad strong temptations to keep the good-will of the enemy, in order to save their lives and property, though at heart they were Whigs. At dawn of day the alarm of 'Indians' was heard at the military posts at Pinebusb. The report of firearms was beard, and the damnes were seen through the twilight ascending from burning buildings, telling, in unequivocal terms, that the destroyers were there. Capt. Benjamin Kortrite, grandfather of Cornelius Kortrite, now living at Pinebush, t on the old homestead,- a man who was always ready at the eall of his country .- marshalled his patriotic band, and marched to the secue of action.f When they came in sight, they saw the enemy retiring from the house, which was on fire. They halted a moment, extinguisbed the fire, and saved this house ; but another house and three bains were consumed. Here they found Sburker, with his brains dashed out. Whilst they were here, the enemy fired a volley from the hill near by. After putting out the fire, they pursued the enemy. When they came on the hill, they found Miller, literally perforated with bullet-holes. It is remarkable that the women and children were not injured on this occasion ; which thay be accounted for by the consideration that a large proportion of the enemy were Tories; that they may have had soume ties of relationship, or affinity, which restrained them, in this case, from their usual bar- barity.
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