History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 107

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 107

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April 13, 1796, Pierre Van Cortlandt, for the sum of five shillings, deeded one and a quarter aeres, upon

1 Towards Jefferson Valley. The barn of David Valentine stands on the foundation of Kirkham's house.

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456

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

which the Methodist Episcopal Church had been built, to certain persons as trustees. June 13, 1827, three-quarters of an acre adjoining on the north was purchased for a burial-ground, and April 1, 1853, six acres, with the house thereon, lying on the east side of the road and directly opposite to the then church property, from HFiam Mabie.

On the 25th of June, 1867, the corner-stone of the present handsome church edifice was laid in a plot of six acres. The church was completed in December, 1870, and dedicated December 13th. Its cost was twenty-five thousand dollars, and much gratuitous work was done by the society.

The church was attached to New Rochelle Circuit from 1787 to 1792, to New Rochelle and Croton Cir- cuit from 1792 to 1803, to Croton circuit from 1803 to 1809, to Cortlandt Cireuit from 1809 to 1833, to Peeks- kill Circuit from 1833 to 1842. In 1842-43 Peekskill and Shrub Oak were ministered to by Daniel De Vinne. In 1843 Shrub Oak became a station, having then one hundred and ninety-one members. The pas- tors since that time have been as follows :

1843. Rev. W. F. Collins.

1844-45.

Rev. P. Chamberlain.

1846-47.

. Rev. Lorin Clark.

1848-49.

. Rev. Thomas Sparks.

1850-51. . Rev. A. N. Molyneux.

1852-53.

. Rev. L. B. Andrus.

1854-55.

. Rev. M. Van Densen.

1856-57. . Rev. W'm. M. Chipp.

1858. .

. Rev. E. R. Keys.

1859-60.

. Rev. O. V. Amerman.

1861-62.

. Rev. B. M. Genung.

1863.

. Rev. W. C. Smith.

1864-66

. Rev. Peter C. Oakley.

1867-69

. Rev. James W. Smith.

1870-71.

. Rev. F. S. Barnumn.

1x72-74.

. Rev. Silas Fitch.

1875-77.

. Rev. D. D. Gillespie.

1878-79.

. Rev. David Buck.

1880-81.

. Rev. A. M. Osbon.

1882-84

Rev. Aaron Coons.

The number of members in 1884 was three hundred and six, of probationers forty-one, and of Sunday- school pupils seventy-five.

The board of stewards at the same time were John Hart, Hickson Covert, Richard Horn, Robert Em- bree, N. C. Strang, David Travis, Alfred Dingee, Smith Forman and Jared E. Mead. The board of trustees were A. C. Requa, J. Roake Hart, John Hart, Wm. Lee, N. C. Strang, Smith Forman and A. Dingee.

ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. -Meetings of Catholics were held at the residence of Mrs. Thomas Jones, a short distance west of Shrub Oak, as far back as 1872 or 1873. The number of worshippers was generally only about eight or ten, and the services were conducted by priests from Peeks- kill. The old Methodist Church building was then rented for a time, and, in July, 1880, a building which had been used as a store was purchased and altered - into the present house of worship. Services are held every Sunday by priests from Peekskill. The num- ber of members is about one hundred and fifty.

JEFFERSON VALLEY .- In the northeastern portion of the town, about one mile east of Shrub Oak, on the northern shore of Osceola Lake, and at the foot of a high hill, is the village of Jeffer- son Valley, containing about one hundred inhabit- ants. Osceola Lake is a beautiful little body of water, nearly elliptical in shape and about one hundred acres in area. Within the village is the Osceola House (no longer open for boarders, but oc- cupied by the post-office). The foriner residence of Dr. James Fountain, an old-time physician of York- town, was located in this village. A son, Dr. Hosea Fountain, practiced medicine, until laid aside by ill health, in the neighborhood of Yorktown Station.

THE VILLAGE OF CROMPOND .- On the road from Peekskill to Somers is the village of Crompond, situ- ated in the midst of a fine farming country, and con- taing a store and post-office, a Presbyterian Church and parsonage and about eight private buildings. The village derives its designation from the lakes situated about half a mile to the south, which were called the Crom Ponds during the Revolutionary period, meaning the " crooked ponds." The post-office originally bore the name of the village. Forty or more years ago it received that of Yorktown, and still retains it. The locality, however, is almost universally designated by its old Revolutionary appellation, which appears in the historical documents and records of that time, and on the maps prepared for Washington and Rochantbean, the former by Erskine, and the latter, probably by Berthier, who, later, became a Marshal of Napoleon I.

THE YORKTOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .?-- The Presbyterian Church, situated on the highest ground in the village of Crompond, is a handsome frame building, with columns in front and surmounted by a small tower.

A society of Presbyterians is said to have been or- ganized in Yorktown in 1730. Probably in 1737 or 1738 a house of worship was erected where the present church is located, and on January 2, 1739, a lot of three acres surrounding it was deeded by Joseph Lane. who had leased a farm of two hundred and twenty acres containing the plot, and Henry Beekman and Gertrude, his wife, the owners, to John Hyatt, John Haight and David Travis, yeomen, " for a Presbyte- rian congregation, exercising their religion and public worship of God Almighty after and ac- cording to the form of worship used and exercised by the now established Presbyterian Church government in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, and for no other purpose or intent whatsoever." The parcel

1 It has been stated that the Inkes received the'name C'rom Ponds from a man named Crom, who resided near them, and that his name appears in sowo of the old deeds. The proof of this statement is not at hand. It furnishes, however, the best explanation yet advanced. In Peekskill, to-day, resido people, the pronunciation of whose name is the same as that of the lakes, though the spelling is different.

" From an historical sermon delivered by the pastor, Rev. W. J. Cum- ming, Angust 6, 1876.

457

YORKTOWN.

of land thus deedcd includes all the property which the church now owns about the present building, with the exception of that upon which the parson- age stands.

This church was the pioneer church in the region. There was no meeting-house of any denomination to Hudson River on the west, and the Bedford Church was the nearest neighbor on the east. The parish embraced Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers and the lower portion of Putnam County.

The first recorded meeting of the church, as a civil corporation, was held August 7, 1760, when the Knapps, Lees, Purdys, Strangs, Hyatts, Whitneys, Fowlers, Bedells and Traviscs were all represented. The descendants of many then in attendance are mem- bers at present.

The first regular pastor of the church of whom there is any record was the Rev. Samuel Sacket (said to be the son of the Rev. Richard Sacket, one of the early ministers of Greenwich, Conn.), who was born at Newtown, Long Island, and was for a long time en- gaged in mercantile pursuits in the county. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Bruns- wick, and ordained to the ministry October 13, 1742. The field of labor assigned to him was Cortlandt Manor, embracing Cortlandtown, Yorktown, Somers and North Salem. In the latter part of 1743 he be- came pastor of the church at Bedford. From May 19, 1747, to December 6, 1749, he devoted one-quarter of his time to labor in Yorktown. October 24, 1761, the church at Yorktown extended a call to Mr. Sacket, which was accepted. His salary was sixty- five pounds, parsonage and twenty-five cords of wood.

The Revolutionary War took place during his min- istry, and, on account of his outspoken patriotism, he was compelled to flee to Sharon, Conn. The burning of the parsonage on the 10th or 12th of June, 1779, and of the church itself on the 24th of the same month, has been recited elsewhere. The value of these three buildings was estimated at three thousand five hundred dollars.

As soon as he could safely do so, Mr. Sacket re- sumed his ministerial labors and continued to be the pastor of the church until his death, at the age of sev- enty-two years, on June 5, 1784. His remains are interred in the cemetery beside the church, and his tombstone bears the inscription-" He was a judicious, faithful and laborious minister of the Gospel."

A new house of worship was built in 1785, at an ex- pense of somewhat over one hundred pounds.

The Rev. Silas Constant was the successor of Mr. Sacket. He was the posthumous son of Col. Joseph Constant, an officer of the French army, who per- ished while on his way to France from this country to settle up some business affairs. Silas Constant was born at Waterbury, Conn., January 15, 1750. Some time after his thirtieth year he relinquished his occu- pation of farmer and became a minister of the gospel. His first charges were at Blooming Grove and Smith's

Clove (now Monroe), Orange County, N. Y. Noven- ber 8, 1786, the church at Yorktown invited him to become their pastor and he was soon afterwards in- stalled.

In addition to his labors at Yorktown, Mr. Constant preached every two or three weeks at Peekskill, prob- ably statedly at Red Mill, and occasionally elsewhere. In the latter part of 1790 the church at Red Mill was constituted a separate organization.

Mr. Constant was a member of and in sympathy with Morris County (New Jersey) Presbytery, which was Presbyterian only in name, Congregational in everything else, and for twenty years quietly and per- sistently labored to bring his congregation to the same belief. The result was a division of the church, and, on March 4, 1806, seventeen members, being about one-third of the whole number, led by Judge Elijah Lee, were incorporated as a separate church. March 5, 1806, Mr. Constant and his party were incorporated. The title adopted by both churches was the same,- "The First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown, settled upon the plan of the Church of Scotland." A law- suit which followed, for the possession of the church property in the Circuit Court, Chief Justice Kent presiding, resulted in a vietory for Judge Lee and his party. Mr. Constant and his friends then built a house of worship about half a mile east, on the road to Somerstown Plains. A cemetery marks its location at present. Their church was known as the Congre- gational or Independent Church. David Hyatt and Henry Miller were the first elders in the Independent Church and Alvan Purdy and Daniel Horton of the other.

Mr. Constant was pastor of the Independent Church until his death, in the seventy-sixth ye'r of his age, on the 22d of March, 1825. With the exception of the trouble which resulted in the division above de- scribed, his pastorate was one of the most prosperous periods in the early history of the church.

The following persons served the church as pastors or stated supplies :

1806-25. Rev. Silas Constant.

1825-28. Rev. Daniel Jones.

1828-32. Rev. Griffith II. Griffith.

1833-38.

. Rev. Wm. Albert Hyde.

1838-41. . Rev. J. B. Loring.

1842-43. Rev. Samuel White.

1844-46(?).

. Rev. J. B. Stoddard.

1846 (?)-49

. Rev. J. B. Loring.

1849-54.

Rev. J. II. Thomas.

1855-56.

Rev. Amzi Benedict.

1857-64. Rev. G. W. McMillan.

August 5, 1865, the Independent Church having sold their property, reunited with the Presbyterian Church.

The party given possession of the old church prop- erty appear to have been without a pastor until 1808. The following is a complete list of pastors :

1761-84. Rev. Samuel Sacket.

1786-1806. . Rev. Silas Constant.

1808-14. . Rev. Andrew Thompson.

458

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

1822-27.

Rev. Asahel Bronson.

1827-34.

Rev . Richard Wynkoop.

1836-46.

. Rev. Robt. G. Thompson.

1847-52.

. Rev. Matthew T. Adamı.

1853-65. . Rev. Sam'l. D. Westervelt.

I866-75.

. Rev. James W. Johnston.

ISTG.

Rev. W. J. Cumming.

The present church edifice was erected during the pastorate of Rev. Robert G. Thompson and dedicated January 0, 1840.

The number of members on the register, April 1, 1884, was one hundred and seventy-seven and the number of Sunday-school members, including officers and teachers, one hundred and four. Mr. Enos Lee is superintendent. The present elders are Enos Lee, Elijah Lee, Henry White, Daniel H. Knapp and William L. Mead, and the trustees, David F. Lee, Henry Strang and Robert L. Knapp.

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE .- A short distance southeast of Crompond are the grounds of the Society of Agriculture and Horticul- ture, of Yorktown, consisting of twelve or fifteen acres leased from Alexander Titus. The society was incor- porated in 1866, but was organized about ten years previous. It owed its origin to the dissatisfaction felt with the methods of the County Agricultural Society, which paid almost all its premiums to winners of horse-races. The Yorktown society gave no horse- races, but awarded its prizes for the best cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, poultry, fruit, grain and vegetables, dairy and culinary products, preserves, flowers, needle-work and domestic mannfactures and farming implements. The exhibitions have been very successful, but the society of late has not been as active as formerly. The officers for 1884 are Constant White, president ; Jas. V. Irish, first vice president ; J. B. F. Hawkins, sec- ond vice-president; Dr. Albert Strang, corresponding secretary ; Albert Lee, recording secretary ; and T. F. Tompkins, treasurer.

MEETING-HOUSE OF FRIENDS AT AMAWALK .- At Amawalk, in the east central portion of the town, is located the meeting-house of the members of the branch of the religous Society of Friends commonly known as the Hicksites. Upon the same ground stood the firstmeeting-house of the Society of Friends in Yorktown.

From the records of meetings of Friends elsewhere in the county, it would appear that a society existed in Yorktown as far back as 1760. Steps were taken towards building a meeting-house in 1772. It was built in 1773 and a separate meeting constituted in 1774. October 10, 1774, a deed was given by John Clapp, of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Joseph Wal- ters, of Cortlandt Manor, to John Griffen and John Cromwell, of Westchester County, and John Cornell, Uriah Field and Thomas Clapp, of Greenwich, Can- necticut, conveying to them a tract of two aeres of land at " Ammerwalk," in Cortlandt's Manor, and another parcel of land eight by ten rods in extent, "the aforesaid lands . being the same traet or parcel

of land on which stauds the meeting-house in which the people usually called Quakers meet." The land mentioned in this deed, together with one and one- quarter acres subsequently purchased, constitutes the lot around the present meeting-house. The Amawalk Meeting at this time was subordinate to the meeting of the town of Harrison.

From the book of records of births and deaths kept by the society in Yorktown, are taken the following names of early members: Richard Hallock, born 1724; Isaac Underhill, born 1726; James Cock, born 1731 ; John Griffin, born 1733 ; Zadoek Birdsall, born 1733 ; Thomas Underhill, born 1738 ; Joshua Halstead, born 1739; Wright Frost, born 1748; Isaae Mekeel, born 1756. A division occurred in the Society of Friends in the year 1828, resulting from a doctrinal controversy that had disturbed the society for several years. Promi- nent among the ministers of the branch that retained possession of this property was one Elias Hicks, of Jericho, Long Island. This gave origin to the name " Hieksite."

The other branch, constituting about one-quarter of the whole number, called Orthodox Friends, with- drew and erected their present meeting-house at York- town Station. Hieks preached frequently in Yorktown.

The present meeting-house at Amawalk was erected in 1831. Two previous meeting-houses had been burned down.

At present four meetings are represented at the Monthly Meetings at Amawalk, namely : Amawalk, Peach Pond. Salem and Peekskill.

The elders are (1884) Sarah S. Weeks, Jane Hal- lock, Amy W. Griffen, James H. Conklin, Joseph T. Hallock, Edmund P. Hallock and Jesse H. Griffen. The number of members is one hundred and seven, of whom thirty-one reside within the limits of other meetings.

YORKTOWN STATION .- About half-way between the northern and southern boundaries of the town is located the village known as Yorktown Station. It has grown up almost entirely since the building of the New York City and Northern Railroad was begun. The first store was opened by Aaron M. Clark, August 27, 1877, about twenty rods south of the present station- house, in a building erected by Colonel Nicholas E. Paine a few years before, and at first used as a black- smith and wheelwright shop. Mr. Clark became the first postmaster, his commission bearing date of Oeto- ber 11, 1881. The name of the post-office is Under- hill. At present the village contains five stores, about a dozen dwelling-houses, a school-house, one hotel, a station-house, two blacksmith and a wheelwright shop, the meeting-house of the Ortho- dox Friends and a Methodist Episcopal Church.

THE ORTHODOX FRIENDS,-When the division oe- curred in the Society of Friends in 1828, about one- fourth of its members at Amawalk withdrew and formed a congregation of Orthodox Friends, which meets at present at Yorktown Station. The meeting-

Echo and B Unbeteil

"FLORAL VILLA."

RESIDENCE OF EDWARD B. UNDERHILL,

159

YORKTOWN.

house was erected at its present situation in 1832, on one acre of land, conveyed November 9, 1832, by George Mekeel to Daniel Smith, Aaron Underhill, Edward B. Underhill and Isaac Mekeel. The num- ber of members at present (1884) is twenty-one, and of Sunday-school pupils eighty. The elders of the church are Jacob Mekeel, Mrs. Jacob Mekeel, Susan Shipley and Daniel Smith. The Monthly Meetings of the church at Peekskill (now almost gone out of existence) and of the church at Croton are held at this meeting house.

THE MOHANSIC METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. -This society was incorporated April 3, 1876, and Jolın Vail, John B. Tompkins and Henry C. Kear were elected trustees. Meetings were held for some time at School-House No. 3, at Yorktown Station, and are now conducted in the upper room of a stable in the rear of the Whitney House. A beautiful house of wor- ship has since been completed. The number of mem- bers is twenty-one, and there is a Sunday-school hav- ing about sixty pupils. The church is connected with the Mount Zion Circuit and has had the following : 1876, Rev. N. O. Lent ; 1877, Rev. E. Ashton; 1878-80, Rev. Uriah Symonds ; 1881-83, Rev. Thomas S. Lent ; 1884-85, Rev. R. L. Shurter, the present pastor.

THE WHITNEY HOUSE was built by Ezekiel Pal- mer and opened June 8, 1882, with Mr. Palmer as proprietor. It is named after Mr. Silas Whitney, a farmer residing in the neighborhood of the village, and owner of most of the land on which it is built. It is a square frame building, three stories in height.

Within the village is located the residence of Colo- nel Nicholas E. Paine, who was mayor of the city of Rochester, N. Y., in 1851, and later postmaster, and is the owner of large amounts of real estate in that city, in Vermont and elsewhere. Colonel Paine purchased his present residence from Mr. George Mekeel about 1872.

About half a mile east of Yorktown Station is the residence of Jacob Mekeel. The Mekeels are de- scended from Uriah Mekeel, who emigrated from Holland and settled in New Amsterdam about 1690, and later removed to Pine's Bridge. One of his three sons, Michael, purchased and settled on three hun- dred acres near Hallock's Mills, and died one hun- dred and four years old. Jacob Mekeel is a grandson of Michael.

On the western side of the village is the finc resi- dence of Edward B. Underhill, son of Abraham I. Underhill, who was the second son of Isaac Under- hill, fourth in descent from the noted John Underhill, of Oyster Bay, L. I. It was at the house of Isaac Underhill, as elsewhere narrated, that Major Andre breakfasted September 23, 1780.

There are few names more prominent in the early history of Long Island and New England than that of Captain John Underhill, the redoubtable champion who fought alike on the side of the Puritans and the Dutch, and whose famous battle with the Long Island

Indians freed that portion of the province of New York from all further danger from savage focs.

He was descended from a noble ancestry, and born in England in 1600. He came to America in 1638, and soon obtained a prominence in the new colonies, which continued up to his death, which occurred Ju- ly 21, 1672. The story of his life and adventures has been so often told that it would be superfluous to re- peat it here. It is sufficient to state that he has left a line of very numerous and distinguished descend- ants.

John Underhill, eldest son of the captain, was the ancestor of the family of that name on Long Island,- while the families in Westchester County are de- scended from his second son, Nathaniel, whose son Abraham was the father of Isaac Underhill, who was born in 1726 and died in 1814. He married Sa- rah Field, and they were the parents of several chil- dren. Robert was the oldest son, and the ancestor of the Underhills of Teller's (or Croton) Point.

Abraham I. Underhill, the second son, was born June 27, 1763. He married Rebecca Field, who was descended from a family well known in this county, and a lady of many excellencies and virtues. Her portraits show that she possessed no small share of personal beauty. Their only child was Edward B. Underhill. Abraham I. Underhill was for many years one of the lessees of mill privileges on the Croton River near its mouth, which were leased from the Van Cortlandts, and here Mr. Underhill erected ex- tensive mills and supplied large quantities of flour to the New York market. After the expiration of the lease Mr. Underhill removed to his farm in York- town, where he passed the remainder of his days, and died May 6, 1841. The settlement of disputes which arose after the termination of the lease of the mill- seat gave rise to a very protracted lawsuit, which is quite an important episode in the history of that part of the county. A full account may be found in Chan- cery reports.

Edward B. Underhill was born at the house ocen- pied by his father when proprietor of the mills on Croton River. His early education, so far as schools were concerned, was exceedingly limited, but he was a constant reader of useful books, and his retentive memory enabled him to acquire an extensive amount of general information.

His father was largely interested in the purchase of lands in what was in the early part of the century called the "western country," now the central portion of the State of New York, and also had large tracts of land in the State of Pennsylvania, which were after- wards of great value. The extensive farm in York- town, which came into the possession of Mr. Under- hill on the death of his parents, was for a great part in all the wildness of nature. He began a system ot improvement which he has continued to the present time, and the removal of rocks, deepening of soil. draining of swamps and wet land and the erection

460

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

of costly and elegant buildings has entirely changed the whole appearance of the estate. His father was one of the early importers of merino sheep and the first inan to introduce the iron plow into Westchester County, and his son has followed in the same line of forethought and intelligent action.

Although for a large portion of his life he has suf- fered mueh from ill health and has been for the last ten years deprived of sight, yet he has never failed to manage with success the details of a very exten- sive business. During his whole life he has been identified with loeal improvements, and it is bnt just to say that he has done more than any other man to establish good school, in his neighborhood where they did not exist before. He has also done nineh to improve the old roads and to open new ones in the vicinity. The cause of temperance has always found in him an active supporter both by example and precept, but he is a believer in the power of moral suasion rather than prohibitory laws.

Mr. Underhill's ancestors were members of the Society of Friends, as were many of the early families of Westehester Connty. For many years the study of medicine has interested him and he has nequired an extensive knowledge of that profession and of some other branches of seience. A few years ago he re- ceived from Amherst College an honorary degree of Master of Arts.

His present residence was completed in 1881. A part was built in 1828. It is situated a short distance west of the New York City and Northern Rallroad, on the old road to Croton. The farm which sur- rounds it is well known as one of the best cultivated in the town, if not in the county, and is well stocked with horses and cattle of the finest grades.

The ancient homestead of the family, and the place where his grandfather, Isaae Underhill, resided during the Revolution, is still standing on the west side of the road from Crompond to Pine's Bridge, and one mile south of Yorktown Station. It has an historie interest as the place where Major John Andre and Joshua Hett Smith stopped for breakfast on the morning of the 23d of September. 1780. It was here that they separated, Smith to return to his home in Haverstraw, by way of King's Ferry, and Andre to continue his journey to Pine's Bridge and thenee to the old Albany Post road, where he was captured, and when they mnet again it was under very different circumstances.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 107

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286