History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 108

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 108

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Isaac Underhill came here to reside shortly before the Revolution, and at his death it passed to his son Abraham, who sold it to Richard M. Underhill, and it is now owned by Charles W. Underhill, Jr. A part of it as it now stands is a well-preserved speci- mien of the house of the olen time and is highly prized by the family as a relic of Revolutionary days.

Just west of Mr. Underhill's residence is the resi- denee of John B. Tompkins.

John Bailey Tompkins was born near the dug-way

in the town of Yorktown, September 20, 1821. The house where he was born was wrecked and partially carried away by the breaking of the Croton Dam, January 8, 1841. He is the son of Gilbert Tompkins and Perlina Griffen. The Tompkinses are of Welsh origin. They came to America, settling first in Con- eord, Mass. From thenee they removed to Fairfield, Conn. Their descendants came to Eastchester, in this county.

John Tompkins, of Croton River-Sarah Barker. - John Tompkins-Catherine Gerow.

Gilbert Tompkins-Perlina Griffen. John B. Tompkins.

Mr. Tompkins' education was obtained from the common schools of the town and the Peekskill Acad- emy. By occupation he is a farmer, though for some years he conducted the slating business. November 4, 1846, he married Susan P. Gerow, of Somers, and has three children-Marietta (now Mrs. Bailey Jor- dan) ; Theodore F., of Yorktown ; Josephine.

He held the office of town clerk during 1852, '53, '54, '56, and that of supervisor in 1861, '62, '73, '74, '75, serving in the board as chairman of committees on roads and bridges, census enumerators and justices, and was member of those on equalization of assess- ments, judiciary, surrogate, schools, etc. He was one of the first incorporators and a member of the first board of directors of the New York City and Northern Railroad, or, as it was then known, the New York and Boston Railroad Company, running through Westchester County, New York. He has always taken a deep interest in agriculture and hor- ticulture, having served six years as president of the town society and many years in other positions. April 2, 1840, he removed with his parents to the farm upon which he now resides, near Yorktown Station, on the New York City and Northern Railroad.

YORKTOWN BAPTIST CHURCH.1-Near the west- ern line of the town, three miles southwest of York- town Station, and about midway between its northern and southern boundaries, is located the Baptist Church of Yorktown. It is a white frame building, with two large columns in the front, and is surrounded by a cemetery probably a little less than a couple of acres in extent. A parsonage elose by the church is of a value of eight hundred or a thousand dollars.

The Baptist Church was originally a branch of the church at Stamford, Conn. The first pastor, ordained by the advice and with the assistance of the church at Stanford, was Reuben Garretson. His ordination took place at Yorktown July 10, 1788. October 15 of the same year the society was constituted the Baptist Church of Yorktown, Cortlandt Manor. The number

From a sketch prepared from the records by Elias Q. Tompkins, one of The deacons of The church.

Nathaniel Gornell

461

YORKTOWN.

of members was forty. The meetings were held in private houses.

Elder Reuben Garretson, the first pastor, was li- eensed to preach by the Baptist Church of Fishkill. He owned and cultivated a farm of two hundred acres or more, not far from the present meeting-place in Yorktown, of which the farm now owned by William P. Wilson was a part.

June 3, 1792, the first recorded election of trustees occurred, Cornelius Ryder, Gamaliel Fairbanks and Elias Quereau being chosen to the office. John Tompkins and Amos Lane were deacons at the time.

In 1795 difficulties arose in the church, and a num- ber of members joined the Baptist Church near Peeks- kill. April 14, 1798, they were constituted a separ ate organization, under the pastotal care of Isaac Rhodes, the number of members being thirty. There were thus at this time two Baptist congre- gations in Yorktown. August 7, 1802, they were reunited, with Isaac Rhodes as pastor, and in the same year a house of worship was built where the present edifice stands.

The successive pastors have been as follows : 1788-1702 . Reuben Garretson. 1798-1809 . Isaac Rhodes.

1810-21 . Reuben Garretson.

1821-40 . Ezra Fountain, of Bedford, occasional supply.

1829

. Nell'ah Sherwood, of

Yorktown.

1835 . Abraham Talman, of

N. Y. City. 1837 . Charles Underhill.

1839-41 . Win. Bowen, of Reading, Conn 1841-43 . Jobn Warren.

1844-46

. Wm. Bowen.

1847-54

. Phil. Roberts*

1860-73 Edw. S. Yocum'

1875-77 · W'm. B. Harris

1879-82.

1882-85.

. George F. Hendrickson. J. G. Shrives, of Yonkers, supply.

September, 1821, the church became a member of the Union Association, in which it still remains. The present meeting-house was built in 1849.

The number of members at the elose of the year 1883 was fifty-three. The deacons were William Wright and Elias Q. Tompkins, and the trustees William Wright, Edmund L. Clements, Wellington Lounsberry, John H. Teller and Charles W. Con- klin.

Nathaniel Cornell, who is prominently identified with the business interests of Yorktown, is of Eng- lishi deseent. His father, Oliver Cornell, removed to

Yorktown from New Castle and purchased the farm at present in the ownership of his son. Oliver Cor- nell married, at New Castle, Mary Dickinson. He had two children, of whom Nathaniel, the youngest, was born at that town, January 17, 1815.

Mr. Cornell spent his early days at the distriet school in Yorktown, which he left at the age of six- teen for the farm, in the management of which he has been more than successful. During the past fifty- five years he has interested himself deeply in ag- ricultural matters and has from time to time added to the productive property in his possession till he has now four hundred acres, a portion of which lies in" Yorktown and the rest in Newcastle. He has also been extensively engaged in the manufacture of cider vinegar, for which he has a reputation sec- ond to none in the State-

He was formerly very active in political affairs. For many years he held the positions of school trustee and road-master in Yorktown, serving one term also as super- visor of the town. He married, October 8, 1876, Miss Margaret Orsor. His long residence in Yorktown, together with his genial disposition and business habits, have made him a power of good in the commun- ity.

John B. Jumpking

CROTON LAKE AND SURROUNDINGS.1-In the southeastern por- tion of the town, and extending into the town of Somers, lies Croton Lake, the source of the water supply of New York City, which is formed by the damming of the waters of the Croton River. It is about five miles in length, and covers an area of four hundred acres. The dam is fifty feet or a little more in height above the natural bed of the river. Just below the southern end of the dam is the pretty stone gate-house, through which the water is admitted to the aqueduct, and started on its mission of useful- ness to the city. A short distance below is the house of the superintendent of the dam, surrounded by well- kept grounds. The lake and aqueduct form one of

1 Most of this sketch is taken from an article entitled, " The Water Supply of New York City, Past and Present, 1658 to 1883," by Fernando Wood. of Croton Dam.

462

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the most stupendous and remarkable pieces of public work in the country.

Previous to the introduction of the waters of the Croton River into New York, the city was compelled to obtain its supply from the the pond known as the Collect, which extended from Canal Street to Pearl Street, from the Tea Water Spring, situated near the present junction of Chatham and Roosevelt Streets, and later from wells sunk in various parts of the city, the water being at first distributed through bored wooden logs. In 1829 iron pipes were laid for the first time. As the city grew, the inadequacy

the falls at Paterson, N. J., across the Hudson River by iron pipes laid in the bottom of the stream.

In 1833 five commissioners were appointed by the Legislature " to examine and consider all matters rel- ative to supplying the City of New York with a sup- ply of pure and wholesome water." Surveys made under the direction of these commissioners in the same year, resulted in the firm conclusion that the Croton should be the source of supply. In 1834 the same commissioners were re-appointed, and again decided that the Croton River offered the only adequate source of supply. A report of the committee embodying this

CROTON LAKE.

of these means of supply became apparent, conclusion was submitted to the people of the city in April, 1835, and adopted by a vote of 17,330 in favor, and 5963 against. In April, 1837, work was com- meneed in constructing the dam across the Croton River about five miles above its mouth, and in build- ing the aqueduct. John B. Jervis was chief en- gineer. and various plans for overcoming the difficulty were suggested, that of bringing the waters of the Bronx River to the city early claiming favorable at- tention. The Croton River appears to have been first suggested on May 17, 1830, by Francis B. Phelps, who presented a memorial to the Council, proposing three different sources of supply,-first, to bring the On the 7th of January, 1841, a great freshet oc- curred on Croton River, which carried away the earth embankment forming a portion of the newly constructed dam, and caused the destruction of a great waters of Rye Pond the whole distance through in twenty-eight inch iron pipes; second, to bring the Croton River by open eanal or iron pipes ; and third, to bring the water of the Passaie River, taken above i amount of property and the loss of three lives. On

463

YORKTOWN.

the 6th of that month the snow lay on the hills sur- rounding the valley of the Croton to the depth of twelve or fifteen inches. In the evening the weather began to moderate, and a thick, heavy rain fell which must have melted the snow and iee more rapidly than the rise of the temperature. As the flood rose, and the waters began to rush furiously on their way to the Hudson, many of the inhabitants of the valley began to fear some disaster. They accordingly took some measures for the safety of their dwell- ings, which, as the event proved, were entirely un- availing.

The river above the dam rose with great rapidity, and shortly after midnight tore away Pine's Bridge, and swept it swiftly towards the dam. The aecumu- lated waters created too great a pressure for the dam to resist, and it at last gave way. The roar of the heard miles away, and in their resistless progress they carried aways all the barns, stables, farm houses and valuable property of other descriptions within their reach.

The greatest and most lamentable loss happened at the iron and wire-mills of the Messrs. Bailey, near the western border of the town. Partaking of the general alarm, three of the proprietors of this mill had been engaged with forty laborers in throwing up an em- bankment to preserve their property from the rising waters. They were so far satisfied with their labors that about three o'clock in the morning they dis- missed their hands, and retired to their homes. Just then they heard an alarm given by the sounding of horns from the opposite side of the river, and William Evans, an old hand, rushed in to say that the dam had broken, and the waters were coming. The time was too brief too allow even the awakening of those who had gone to rest, and in an exceedingly brief spaee the waters were upon the little settlement, and some fifty or sixty human beings were thrown into the flood, while their possessions were swept away. The women and children elung to the trees, and all were saved. Mrs. Acray and her infant, Miss Mit- ehell, Mrs. Batson and a little girl, Mrs. Millen and child, William Mitehell, Joseph Bailey, Gerry Hale, John Cheesay, Robert Chester, James Bream Cor- nelius Colton, Andrew Miller, James Hutchinson and Henry Corney were all taken from trees by means of rafts.

Two stout men were less fortunate than the women and children. William Evans, sometimes called " Uncle John," and Robert Smith sought refuge in a tree which was swept away, and were drowned. Only one of the laborers on the dam lost his life. His name was Patrick Burke, and he was said to have gone to bed intoxicated, and from that reason been unable to save himself. Mr. Bailey waded breast deep in water carrying his father and a box of gold, and almost by miraele reached a place of safety with his burdens.

The pecuniary loss from the flood was estimated as follows :

The embankmant of dam . $30,000

Damage to masonry of dam 26,000

Pine's Bridge . 6,000

Quaker's Bridge .. 10,000

Bridge near the dam .

6,000

Three or four bridges above the dam 5,000

Bailey's Mill's, dwelling-house and farm

20,500

Stock of iron, etc

5,000

Furniture .

2,500

Money, clothes and papers. 20,000

Store and village buildings 20,000

Agricultural stock and implements 2,1x10)

Tompkins' farm . 20,000

Damage to the surrounding lands, houses, buildings, etc. 500,000

Total 8672,500

June 22, 1842, the water was let into Croton Aque- duct for the first time, and on the following day was New York.

On the 4th of July, 1842, the waters of the Croton gushed up for the first time into the distributing res- ervoir at Murray Hill, "and wandered about its bot- tom as if to examine the magnificent structure, or to find a resting-place in the temple towards which they had made a pilgrimage." Many eitizens visited the reservoir, and demonstrations of joy were frequent over the consummation of the great work. October 14th the citizens gave vent to their feelings of satis- faction by an imposing parade, in which over twenty thousand persons took part. The water was on that day for the first time distributed through the pipes to the houses.

In the construction of the aqueduet fifty-five inil- lion brieks were used, and seven hundred thousand eubic yards of stone masonry built. At Listanees of a mile hollow circular towers were erected to afford ventilation.

The Croton Water-Works begin six miles above the mouth of the Croton River, where a dam elevates the water of the river fifty feet, or a hundred and sixty- six feet above mean tide ; passes along the valley of the Croton to near its mouth, and thence into the valley of the Hudson; goes through the villages of Sing Sing, Tarrytown, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings and Yonkers ; at the last leaves the bank of the Hudson and crosses the valley of Saw-Mill River and Tibbets' Brook ; thenee runs along the side of the ridge that bounds the southerly side of Tibbets' Brook Valley to within three and a half miles of the Harlem River, where the high grounds of the Hudson fall away, and passes, in consequence, over the summit lying be- tween the Hudson and East Rivers to the Harlemn and the great High Bridge. Over the bridge, which erosses the Harlem Valley and the river, the water thus brought is conveyed in immense iron pipes, so huge that a very tall man ean stand erect within them. Then the aqueduet of masonry is resumed and continued a couple of miles to the termination of the high ground on the north side of Manhattan Valley,

waters as they broke from their confines could be , received into the reservoir at Eighty-sixth Street, in

464

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

where it again gives place to iron pipes which de- scend into the bottom of the valley, a hundred and two feet below the aqueduct level, and rise to the proper point on the opposite side and extend to the receiving reservoirs in Central Park.

The Sing Sing Kill, where it crosses the line of the aqueduet, runs in a deep and narrow gulf, the bottom of which is sixty-three feet below the grade line. The aqueduet bridge, which covers the gulf, is immense. Near the north end of the valley that spreads out from this is a road, culvert or arched viaduet, under the conduit. The principal work here is the large arch directly over the gulf. It is eighty-eight feet

and the only remaining source was the small amount which was running in Croton River, and which prob- ably did not receive twenty-seven million gallons a day. Since then the lakes, varying in size from fifty to five hundred acres, at or near the sources of many of the tributaries of the Croton, which have their rise principally in Westchester and Putnam Counties- though some of the smaller rise in Dutchess County and within the State of Connecticut-have been drawn down. Two large storage reservoirs have been con- strueted near the head waters of the Croton ; one at Boyd's Corner, in the town of Kent, Putnam County, and the other at Drewville, in the same county. The

DAM AT CROTON LAKE.

span and thirty-three feet rise, a massive work of | citizens of New York are now drinking, using and wast stone.

This reservoir covers about four hundred acres, and has a storage capacity of about five hundred million gallons above a level that will allow the aqueduct to deliver thirty-five million gallons per day. The new receiving reservoirs in the Central Park have a eapa- city of about one thousand million gallons; the old reservoirs about a hundred and fifty million gallons. Large wells these, but none too large for the needs or desires of the big family that draws from them, as will be seen when it is stated that, in October, 1869, all of this available supply was practically exhausted,

ing about eighty-five million gallons of water every twenty-four hours, a vast deal more than those who were before them drank at the time the works of the Manhattan Company were put in operation, when water from the celebrated "Tea Water Pump," which for years stood on the corner of Chatham and Pearl Streets, was purchased at a penny a gallon from the vendors who went about the town in carts and sparingly used it as no common luxury.

The Croton Dam sets the river baek about five miles. The water is conducted to a gateway located on solid rock to the head of the aqueduct on the

465

YORKTOWN.

southern shore, by a tunel eut a hundred and eighty feet throughi roek. The gate-chamber is provided with a double set of gates,-one set of guard-gates of cast-iron, set in east-iron frames, and one set of reg- ulating gates, made of gun metal, set in frames of the same material. There are nine gates in each set, and all simply operated by means of wrought-iron screw- rods. In the north abutment of the dam there is a waste culvert with suitable gates of east-iron to draw the water down in the reservior whenever nec- essary.

The general formation of the country through which the aqueduct passes is extremely irregular, and con- sequently, in its construction, there was of necessity much deep cutting, frequeut tunneling through ridges,

mentioned, there are numerous brooks and valleys, of less depth, requiring culverts and artificial founda- tions to support the work. The culverts number one hundred and fourteen, and their aggregate lengthi is nearly eight thousand feet. The span varies from one and a half to twenty-five feet. There are five road culverts of from fourteen to twenty-feet span. All the culverts are of stone, laid in hydraulie cement. The line is embellished at frequent intervals with massive viaducts and bridges, which render it impos- ing, aud at times picturesque. The prettiest picture along the way is perhaps at Sleepy Hollow, and the grandest about Sing Sing Kill.

The greatest interior width of the aqueduct is seven feet five inches, and the greatest height, eight feet.

HIGH BRIDGE.

and heavy filling in deep ravines. There are on the five and a half inches. The bottom is an inverted arch; the side walls rise four feet above the spring- line, with a bevel of one inch to a foot rise, so that the width at the top is eight inches greater than at the bottom ; and the roofing arch is a semi-circle. In ex- cavations a bed of coucrete masonry is made the foundation, three inches thick at the centre of the inverted arch, twelve at the spring-line, and three under the side-walls or . abutments; over this bed a heavy course of plastering is laid. The inverted arch is of brick, four inches thick ; the side-walls are of rubble stone, two feet eight inches thick at the spring- line of the inverted arch, and two feet at the top, and are faced with brick ; and the roofing areli is of brick, eight inches thick. Spandrels of stone are carried up line sixteen tunnels, varying in length from a huudred and sixty to over twelve hundred feet, and making an aggregate length of nearly seven thousand feet ; and the height of the ridges, above the grade- level at the tunnels, ranges from twenty-five toseventy- five feet. In Westchester County twenty-five streams cross the line of the aqueduct, which are from twelve to seventy feet below the grade-line, and from tweuty- five to eighty-three feet below the top covering of the aqueduct. The most prominent of the valleys are Lounsberry's, Indian Brook, Sing Sing Kill, Mill River, Jewell's Brook and Saw-Mill River ; the foundations of which are in no case less than forty feet below the grade-line, or fifty-three feet below the top covering of the aqueduct. Besides those above | solid from the exterior angle of side-wall on a line that

466

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

is tangent to the areh. The concrete masonry was formed by mixing one part of hydraulic cement, three parts of elean sand and three parts of fine broken stone. The masonry was all laid up in hydraulic eement obtained mostly from Ulster County. The mortar for the stone-work was composed of one measure of cement to three of clean, sharp sand, and for the briek masonry and plastering between the stone-work and the inner briek faeing; and, over the roofing areh, one of cement to two of sand. Every eargo of cement was tested by actual experiment after it was brought to the work, before any was allowed to be used. All this eare was nee- essary to produce a water-proof way. In roek tun- neling the roofing areh is dispensed with.

To give free eireulation of air through the aque- duet, thirty or forty ventilators are constructed at a uniform distanee of a mile. They rise fourteen feet

VENTILATOR.

above the surface of the ground over the aquednet, are cireular in form, slightly beveling or tapering toward the top, and are built of stone. Ten or a dozen of them are constructed with doors that admit an easy entrance into the aqueduet. These ventila- tors are abrupt and unprotected, and at a distance very much resemble the old powder-houses ereeted by our grandfathers. Along the line of the aqueduet there are also six waste-weirs, so arranged as to allow the water to pass off when it rises above the proper height, with gates to draw it all off when necessary. The water from the weirs, or gates, falls into a well, and is then carried off through a culvert to the outside channel. Each weir and its appurte- nances are inclosed by a stone building with a briek arehed roof.

The water tower at the High Bridge with the aid of the low pressure engines for pumping the water from the aqueduet into the high-service reservoir con-

strueted near by for the same purpose supplies the residents, who live on high ground, above the aque- duet level, with water. The new reservoirs in the upper section of Central Park lie just above the old, and extended from Eighty-sixth to Ninety-sixth Streets, and occupy nearly the whole width of the park, and cover a hundred and six acres. A person ean walk or ride horseback, or drive around them. From the promenade in the park we see a vast, quiet, beautiful lake of clear water-if it happens to be a still, bright day-and notiee on its edges shoals of fishes of glittering crimson, blue, and stripes of varied hues. At the north is a neat stone house, which is known as the "North Gate-house," through which the water from the long conduit is received ; and at the south a larger and more pietur- esque house of stone, called the "South Gate-house," through which the waters of the reservoirs are sent down the avenues and over and about the great eity. If you descend the South Gate-house from the drive- way or the walk from the lower park, you pass up a se- ries of short flights of stone steps, along a gravel path lined with arbor-vitæ and beds of fair flowers, over a picturesque bridge, and up a final and longer stone stair- way to a broad stone threshold. See on the right and left there are basins of still water, inclosed by iron rail- ings, about fifty by twenty feet ; beyond parallel with them, rows of large breaks with up-right screw-rods ; at the entrance an opening for a stairway leading somewhere below ; and at the rear a prison-like door, which, being swung open, admits you to a little bal- cony hanging over the great lake, from which persons ean look over the beautiful, transparent water to the North Gate-house, on the opposite side. and note a granite way from one house to the other, a few feet below the surface of the water, which divides the reservoir. By the breaks in the house the gates are open and shut to the great pipes below which supply the city with water. There are openings, or gates, all along the lines, by which the pipes ean at any moment, and at almost any point, be cleaned or repaired, so that no stoppage of any magnitude can possibly occur.

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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 108

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