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 109
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The system of water supply of New York has grown with the growth of the city, and various reser- voirs have been established at other points. Danger of water famine has compelled the eity to make en- deavors to increase the Croton supply. According to the plan recently adopted, a dam is to be built at Quaker Bridge, about two and a half miles below the present dam, to be about two hundred feet in height above the level of the Hudson River, and to increase the height of the water thirty-four feet above the present dam. The cost of building the new reservoir lias been estimated at $7,790,580, and the aqueduct at $15,664,308. The new reservoir will receive the en- tire drainage of the Croton water-shed, and thirty- two billion gallons of water above the level of the aqueduct, and ean therefore supply two hundred mil- lion gallons per day for one hundred and sixty days
467
YORKTOWN.
without recourse to the flow of the river. With the nine billion gallons of water in existing storage res- ervoirs and lakes, and five billion gallons in the res- ervoir about to be built on the east branch of the Cro- ton, in the town of South East, Putnam County, the total available storage capacity will be forty-six bil- lion gallons, sufficient to supply two hundred million gallons a day for two hundred and thirty days.1
The new aqueduct will be capable of delivering two hundred and fifty million gallons per day, the en- tire minimum drainage of the Croton water-shed. This will supply a population of two million five hun- dred thousand at the rate of one hundred gallons a day per capita, or three million three hundred and
An analysis of the Croton water by Professor Chandler gives the following result :
Chloride of sodium . 0.284 grains.
Sulphate of potash . 0.205
Sulphate of soda . 0.024
Sulphate of lime . 0.024
..
Carbonate of lime 1.698
Carbonate of magnesia 0.935
Alumina and oxide of iron . 0.058
46
Silica ..
0.222
Organic and volatile matter
0.874
Total solids 4.324
The annual rain-fall at Croton Lake from ~ January 1, 1866, to December 31, 1882, according
1.99
ity
ath
er
and
ling
the
ei
feel
the
WATER TOWER AT HIGH BRIDGE.
thirty thousand at the present rate of consumption- , to the records kept at the dam, has been as fol- about seventy-five gallons a day per capita. The new lows : aqueduct is to start from the present dam, and is to be cylindrical in shape and fourteen feet in diam- 1866 . 51.77 inches. 1875 1876 61.19 1867 50.77 = . 53.54 inches. eter.
The territory drained by the Croton River amounts to three hundred and thirty-eight square miles.
In order to prevent contamination of the water by any settlement on the banks, it is proposed to pur- chase all the land within a quarter of a mile of the reservoir on all sides.
1 Communication from Commissioner of Public Works (Hubert O. Thompson) to the Mayor of New York, February 23, 1852.
.50.33
1877
.51.61
1869
48.36
1878
71.48
1870
44.63
=
1879
53.37
1871
48.93
1880
39.64
1872
. 40.74
1881
. 55.50
1873
46.08
1882
. 59.29
1874
. 36.93
1868
The first superintendent of the dam was Daniel Adamson, an Englishman by birth, who had been employed as a mason on the dam when it was in course of construction. He was succeeded by Joseph
se,
OT:
468
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Palmer, who held the position for only a few months, and he by Fernando Wood, the son of the noted New York politician of the same name. Mr. Wood took charge in the early part of 1875, and still retains the position. Mr. Adamson took up his residence on a hill close by the dam after he ceased to be the keeper, and died there about 1881, at an advanced age.
A little grove on the southern shore of the stream is frequently used for picnic parties. The scenery in the neighborhood of the dam is very pretty. On the northern side of the stream, beside the dam, is the Fairview Honse, erected between 1855 and 1860 by Andrew Purdy, and now kept by Joseph Walters & Son. Quite a number of city people resort to this hotel and to boarding-places in the vicinity during the summer. To the northwest, a short distance, in full view, is Turkey Mountain, which extends over an area of about eight hundred acres, nearly as far north as Yorktown Station. It is mostly covered with timber. It was the haunt of wild turkeys after they had ceased to appear in other localities, and thence derives its name.
About half a mile east of the dam the bridge of the New York City and Northern Railroad spans the river at an elevation of eighty-four feet. Near the northern end of the bridge is the station known as Croton Lake North. A short distance south, on the other side of the lake, is the station called Croton Lake South.
PINE'S BRIDGE .- Just within the eastern border of the town, on Croton Lake, and in the midst of beautiful scenery, is located the little settlement of Pine's Bridge, communicating with the opposite side of the lake, which is here quite narrow, by means of a bridge of the same name. The name is said to have been derived from a Mr. Pine, who lived near the original bridge. The village contains nine houses, including the two buildings known as the Croton Lake House, and there is also a white frame Methodist Church. The whole settlement will be obliterated by the contemplated increase in the depth of the reser- voir, and the purchase of the land for a quarter of a mile back by New York City.
The old bridge was situated about half a mile east of the present structure, where the abutments are still visible at low water. In Revolutionary days it was the principal avenue of communication between points north and south of the stream. It was guarded a con- siderable portion of the time by a strong force of Americans. Remains of fortifications erected for the purpose are still visible on the hill to the south. On the flat land, cast of the bridge, now covered by water, a portion of the Americans was encamped. 1
Enoch Crosby, the original of the hero of Cooper's best novel, "The Spy," commenced his career as a spy in the vicinity of Pine's Bridge.
When the New York City and Northern Railroad
was first projected to run through the town a number of the directors of the road formed the Croton Lake Land Association, and purchased about six hundred acres of land around Pine's Bridge on both sides of the lake, with the expectation of selling lots for the erection of country villas. They did not carry their plan into execution, however, and never made a sale.
THE CROTON LAKE HOUSE at Pine's Bridge was erected and occupied by Ezekiel Palmer in 1868, and another additional building to the north was put up about 1879. They are at present owned and managed by George and H. J. Pahner, nephews of the builder. There are accommodations for about forty guests.
THE CROTON LAKE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- On a gentle knoll, about fifty fect above the waters of Croton Lake, is situated the Croton Lake Methodist Episcopal Church, a handsome white frame structure. It was purchased by the Methodists for one thousand dollars in 1842 from the Congregation- alists, by whom it had been erected and used several years before. At first the church was connected with New Castle Circuit. Its successive pastors were as follows :
1842. . . Rev. Loyal B. Andrus. 1849. . . Rev. Jarvis Z. Nichols.
1843. . . Rev. William Blake. 1:50-51. . Rev. Thomas Sparks.
1844. . . Rev. Bradley Selleck.
1.52-53. . Rev. Davis Stocking.
1845-46. . Rev. Daniel Divinnie. 1554-55. . Rev. Benj. Grithn.
1847-48. . Rev. John Luckey. -
The society then became a separate charge, and has sinec had the following pastors :
1856. . Rev. Elbert Osborn. Istis-70 . Rev. J. W. Shrive.
1857-5%.Pev. Gilbert D. Townsend. 1571-72 . Rev. Robert Kerr.
1859. . Rev. R. S. Ammerman. 1×73 . . Rev. II. C. Humphrey.
1860-61. Rev. David Lyman. 1×74-76. Rev E. Ashton.
1862-63. Rev. James Y. Bates. 1;7-70. Rev. J. Il. Loomis.
1864. . Rev. Benj. M. Genung. 1880-81. Rev. Aaron Coons.
1865-66. lev. George Daniels. 1882 . . Rev. E. Il. W. Barden.
1867. . Rev. Jas. W. Macomber. 1>^3-4. Rev. Robert Kerr.
During the ministry of David Lyman, the pastor in 1861 and 1862, who was a stanch Abolitionist, a di- vision arose in the church caused by the conflict of feelings engendered by the great national strife, which worked great injury to the church, then in a very flourishing condition. A church at Yorktown, in the southwestern portion of the town, and one at Spring Valley, were connected with the Croton Lake Church as one charge about 1869.
The number of members (1884) is abont forty-five, and of Sunday-school scholars about thirty. The stewards are Nathaniel Williams, John Tait, Horace Baker, Samnel Reynolds and William E. Reynolds. Within the village is the summer residence built by the late George E. L. Hyatt, a snecessful carpet and oil-cloth dealer in New York City. Since his death, a few years ago, the house has been for the most part nnoccupied.
Another dwelling just south of the Methodist Epis- copal Church is the property of Robert Ross, a broker on Pine Street, New York, but has been for some time occupied only by a family who take charge of the premises.
1 Ser Revolutionary history of the town.
469
SOMERS.
West of Pine's Bridge about half a mile, facing an arın of the lake is a residence erected by Henry Wood, but at present (1885) unoceupied. West of the railroad bridge, on the southern bank of the lake is another large dwelling erected by Fernando Wood, Jr.
BAILEY'S WIRE-MILL .- A wire-mill was formerly located on the Croton River below the dam, near the western border of the town. It was started about 1831 by the Messrs. Bailey, the firm consisting of James Bailey, a native of England, and his sons Jolin, Abraham, James and Joseph. At the time of the flood on Croton River this manufactory, as elsewhere narrated, was swept away. After long and tedious litigation, damages were obtained by the firm from the city of New York for the loss of the property. The mill was rebuilt, but went out of existence about fifteen years ago (1869). The grist, cider and saw mills of Walter Twigger now occupy the locality.
THE YORKTOWN AND SPRING VALLEY METIIO- DIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES .- In the southwestern portion of the town are two Methodist Churches, the Yorktown and the Spring Valley Churches, which, to- gether with the church at Croton Lake, have since (about 1869) constituted a single charge. Previously these two churches were connected with Croton Circuit.
The deed for the property on which the Yorktown Church is located was given by William Paliner and Eliza, his wife, to John G. Frost, Abraham Merritt and Benjamin F. Wood, July 5, 1866, and the church was built in the latter part of the same year. It has (1884) about twenty-five members, and about forty Sunday-school pupils. The stewards are Jacob Hitch- cock, J. H. Palmer and Dauiel Carpenter.
The deed for the Spring Valley Methodist Episco- pal Church bears date of February 2, 1866, and the church was erected the same year. Meetings were held for some time previously in the house of a col- ored man named Hedding, about a mile south of the present church. It has about twenty-five members, and about thirty Sunday-school pupils. The stewards are Seth Fisher, Alfred Ackerly and Orson Sarles.
SUPERVISORS ANN CLERKS OF THE MANOR OF CORTLANDT.
Supervisors.
17601-75. Pierre Van Cortlandt.
1780-82. Samuel Haight. 1783-87. Joseph Strang.
1775 2-79. Joseph Strang.
Clerks.
17603-69. Moses Travis.
1770-87. Joseph Strang.
SUPERVISORS AND CLERKS OF THE TOWN SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION.
Supervisors.
1788. Joseph Strang. 1814-21. Thomas Tompkins.
1789-91. Elijah Lee.
1822. Abijah Lee.
1792-95. Ebenezer White.
1823-25. Thomas Tompkins.
1796-1802 Stephen Lines. 1826-27. David D. Webbers.
1803. Ebenezer White.
1828-30. Barnardus Montross.
1804-05. Elijab Lee. 1831-32. James Underhill.
1806-07. Peter Lane.
1833-35. Cornelius F. Ferris.
1808-10. John Conklin.
1836-40. Samuel Fowler.
1811. Abraham Requa.
1841-42. Stephen Lee.
1812-13. Nathaniel Hyatt.
1843. Barnardus Montross.
1 Record of the Manor of Cortlandt in Clerk's office at Yorktown.
2 Records of Boards of Supervisors of Westchester County.
3 Record of Manor of Cortlandt. ii .- 413
1844-47. Elias Q. Tompkins.
1864. Nathaniel Cornell.+
1865-66. Stephen Hf. Knapp.
1867-68. Joseph F. Palmer.
1852-53. Abraham R. Strang.
1854-55. Lawrence P. Bostwick.
1856. Samnel Fowler.
1857. Daniel Strang.
1873-75. John B. Tompkins.
1858-60. Dr. Benj. D. Miller. 1876. Jesse Ryder.
1861-62. John B. Tompkins.
1877-80. John W. Carpenter.
1863. Benjamin D. Miller.
1881-85. William James Horton.
Clerks.
1788-94. Joseph Strang.
1855 Alexander Titus.
1795-1803. Steplien Lines.
1856. John B. Tompkins.
1804-09. Nathaniel IIyatt.
1857-61. Egbert S. Fowler.
1810-11. Thomas Tompkins. 1862. Solomon D. Purdy.
1812. Ilenry White.
1863. Randolph M. Lee.
1813-19. Abraham Purdy.
1864. Solomon D. Purdy.
1820-25. Benjamin Knapp.
1826-29. Joseph Fowler.
1867-68. David Ryder.
1830. Cornelius F. Ferris.
1869-71. Stephen F. Horton.
1831-35.
Samuel Fowler.
1872-73. Francis E Foshay.
1836-38. Wright Frost.
1874. Wm. Emerson.
1839-41. John T. Clements.
1875-77. George W. Mallett.
1842-45.
Stephen H. Knapp.
1879-81. Ferdinand llorton.
1846-51.
Enos Lee.
1882-84. Constant Whitney.
1852-54. John B. Tompkins.
1883. Theo. F. Tompkins.
The town contains eleven school districts, in each of which is located a school-house. But one school- teacher is employed in each district. In 1883 (the last year of which a report is available) the average daily attendance of scholars in each district was as follows : First, 34; second, 18; third, 20; fourth, 31 ; fifth, 15; sixth, 16; seventh, 11; eighth, no report ; ninth, 21; tenth, 12; eleventh, 10.
CENSUS OF YORKTOWN.
1712
91
1840.
2819
1845.
2278
1782.
1850 .
2273
(Middle Ward of Manor of Cort- landt, 420 Refugees.)
1855
2346
1860 . 2231
1790 .
1609
1865. .2559
1825
.2045
1870.
2625
1830
. 2141
1875. . 2610
1835 . . 2212
1880 . . 2.181
Mr.f. Cummings
CHAPTER VII.
SOMERS.
BY CHARLES E. CULVER.
SOMERS is situated near the centre of the northern tier of towns in Westchester County, and is distant from the county-seat about twenty miles. It is fifty miles from New York and about one hundred and twenty from Albany. It is bouuded on the east by North Salem and Lewisboro, west by Yorktown,
+ Resigned and succeeded by Stephen II. Knapp.
1848-49. Benjamin D. Miller.
1850-51. Isaac L. Tompkins.
1869-70. Elias Q. Ilorton. 1871. Joseph F. Palmer. 1872. James C. Travis.
(Manor of Cortlandt.) 1726
1865-66. Martin Van B. Travis.
470
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
and north by Putnam County, and south by Bedford and New Castle.
Somers was earved out of the old Cortlandt Manor and was first ealled " Stephen Town." All of this territory was first represented in the Board of County Supervisors by Pierre Van Cortlandt in 1760. He continued in that eapaeity until 1778, when he was sueceeded by Major Joseph Strang, a resident of that part of Cortlandt Manor now known as Yorktown. He was succeeded by Samuel Haight in 1780, 1781 and 1782, when Strang again served from 1783 to 1788. On the 4th of March of the latter year Cort- landt Manor was divided into several towns and that part of it now known as Somers was ealled Stephen Town, after Stephen Van Cortlandt, to whom a part of the manor was allotted in 1734. At the beginning of the Revolution the manor was divided into three wards or distriets, and the territory of Yorktown and Stephen Town was designated as the Middle Distriet and ealled Hanover. It had no eor- porated existence and was not represented in the Board of Supervisors. Upon the erection of Stephen Town, Hachaliah Brown was chosen as the supervisor of the town.
During the sueeeeding twenty years much trouble was experieneed by the settlers in loss of mail matter and goods, from the faet that other towns of the same name existed in the northern and eentral por- tions of the State, and in 1808 the name was changed to Somerstown, in honor of Captain Richard Somers, one of the naval heroes of the Tripolitan War.
Riehard Somers, the brave naval officer after whom the town is named, was born at Egg Harbor, N. J., in 1778, and was the son of Colonel Richard Somers, of the Revolutionary army, who died in 1794. Educated at a school in Philadelphia and at the Burlington Academy, he went to sea in 1794, became a midship- man in the United States navy in 1798, lieutenant in 1801, and was at the time of his death, on September 4, 1804, a master commander. In 1803 he commanded the sehooner "Nautilus," in Commodore Preble's squadron in the Mediterranean, and bore a distin- guished part in the several attacks on the Tripolitan gun-boats; himself leading one of the attacking di- visions and Decatur the other. He volunteered to take the ketch " Intrepid," fitted up as a fire-ship, into the harbor of Tripoli, and with his brave comrades lost his life by its premature explosion.
The principal streams running through Somers are the Croton on its eastern boundary, being, in faet, the boundary line itself; the Museoot, whose course runs southeasterly from near the northwest corner to its mouth, where it empties into the Croton under the north shadow of Muscoot Mountain, and about two miles and a half from the southern line near Croton Lake; Plum Brook, rising in Putnam County and flowing southeast, empties into the Croton in the south central part of the town, about half a mile from Golden's Bridge ; Mill Brook, flowing sontherly,
empties into the Muscoot; and Potash Brook, thus named from the fact that early in the eentury a pot- ash manufactory was established thereon, near the present village of Somers, also rises in Putnam County, and flowing southeasterly, empties into Plum Brook about one-half mile from the junction of the latter with the Croton ; Angle Fly, a noted trout stream, rises in the swamps of a valley west of Prim- rose Street, on the farm formerly owned by Micajah Wright (the builder of Mount Zion Methodist Epis- eopal Church), and flowing south empties into the Museoot a mile from the mouth of the latter. Nu- merous other small streams, fed by springs, are to be found in the town, thus making the seetion eminently adapted to agricultural purposes. In the northern portions of the town, high ridges are the prominent topographical features, in which lie embedded vast quantities of iron-ore, some of which, on assay, yield sixty-one per eent., although as yet these hidden treasures have not been worked extensively. Through the town, from north to south, run three prominent ridges, which were the sites of signal fires during the aboriginal ownership of the land, and upon which are now situated some of the finest farms in the State. In the intervale level, well-watered plains are found, which show evidenecs of having been the bottoms of extensive lakes or basins of swiftly-flowing rivers. The slope of the land is southeasterly ; the rock for- mation gneiss and granite ; the soil a rich loam, with a sub-stratum of clay. Not far from the southern boundary, and near the Museoot River, old red sand- stone crops out of a break in the western edge of the ridges above mentioned.
When the partition of the Manor of Cortlandt was made, in 1734, the allotment of this town was made: To Mrs. Margaret Bayard, lot No. 5; Phillip Van Cortlandt, lot No. 6; Andrew Johnston, lot No. 7; Andrew Miller, part of north lot No. 8; Stephen De Laney, south lot No. 5; Stephen Van Cortlandt, south lot No. 6; and half of lot No. 7 to Mrs. Susan- nah Warren. These were the original owners of the town under the partition of the mauor. Previous to this some adventurous spirits from Long Island, and beyond the present Connectieut line, had built their lodges in the wilderness and opened a friendly com- munication with the resident Indian tribe. Their homes were the huts of the frontiersmen ; their sus- tenance depended on the skill with which they used the old flint-loek, or made the rude traps for the game that then abounded on the hills of Amaghpogh or Amawalk. At this date some evidences of these early settlers may be found, far from highway or prosperous farm-houses, but still significantly point- ing out their silent history to the careful searcher after antiquities. Later on, the people scattered in families and went farther from the bank of the Hud- son River, out into the wilderness of what is now the town of Somers. They were met by enterprising eastern people, who came from the salt waters of the
471
SOMERS.
Sound, and the shores of the Pilgrim fathers' home until, at last, a settlement of sturdy, honest, intelli- gent yeomanry was founded and maintained in the heart of the wilderness, which extended from the Connecticut River on the east to Hudson's River on the west. Both men and women were of that hardy class of pioneers who feared no toil, no hardship, no danger, worshipped truth and made a home which in part their descendants enjoy to-day.
On April 6th, 1736, the south part of Great Lot, No. 6, which was allotted to Stephen Van Cortlandt, was surveyed by Philip Verplanck, and divided into twenty-two lots. A map of this tract made at the time shows that on lots 11, 12 and 22 there were houses. Lot 22 was at the junetion of Plum Brook with "Grootan,"-Croton River,-the lots 10 and 11, were west of the former, bordering on Great Lot No. 5.
A later map, date unknown, shows the lots in pos- session of the following persons :
No. 1, in the southwest eorner of Great Lot border- ing on Croton River and Great Lot 5, Joseph Morten, two hundred and twenty-six acres. No. 2, north of No. 1, William Williams, one hundred and eighty- five acres. No. 3, a triangular traet, bounded west by 1 and 2, sonth by Croton River, Joseph Morten, three hundred and sixty-eight acres. No. 4, north of No. 2, Henry Sommers, one hundred and ninety- eight aeres. This lot on the old map is marked No. 6. Nos. 4 and 5 on the old map are marked in the later map as No. 5, Pelah Mead, three hundred and eighty-nine aeres. Nos. 4, 5 and 6 extend north to the Museoot River. Nos. 7 and 8, north of 4, 5 aud 6 and the Museoot River, are marked respectively to Abijah Crossey, two hundred and seventy acres, and Obadiah Purdy, two hundred and forty-eight aeres. No. 9, north of 8, John Brown, two hundred and fifty-three acres. Daniel Durgee is marked as in pos- session of lot No. 10, two hundred and thirty aeres, which borders east on Croton River, below the mouth of Plnun Brook. No. 6 (on the old map No. 17) is marked to Joseph Griffin, three hundred and eighty- nine aeres, on which was a house. This traet borders east on the Croton River, and extends to the mouth of the Museoot. These persons were doubtless lessees under Van Cortlandt, and later, perhaps, beeame pnr- chasers.
On March 20, 1762, Andrew Johnson leased to John Hempstead a certain lot of land, lying and being at Plnm Brook, in the Manor of Cortlandt, which was then known as farm No. 4, west range, and a part of Great Lot No. 7. This was again leased to the same by the heirs of Johnson, after the latter's death. The lease is dated June 24, 1772. John Hemp- stead was one of the first settlers of the town under the Van Cortlandt heirs, and the site of his house, though nearly obliterated, ean yet be diseerned on the central ridge of the town. His deseendants still live in the town in the persons of his great-great-grand-
children, Mrs. C. E. Culver, Mrs. C. A. Perry, Mrs. D. C. Light, while of his great-grandehildren three only survive-Iliram Hitt, of Connecticut; Mrs. Phebe Darby, of Syracuse ; and Mrs. Jerusha Corsa, of Somers, all of them over seventy years of age. John Ilempstead's tomb is to be found in the burial-ground on Somers' Plain, with this inscription :
"Sacred to the memory of John Hempstead, who departed this life the 26th of April, 1801, Aged 107 years, 5 mos. & 21 ds.
Įlow few can reach those years of time, Which here are numbered to our view, Since death calls most while in their prime, And leaves behind so aged few."
In this connection it may be remarked that this same John Hempstead was, by trade, a builder, and erected the first house in Maiden Lane, New York, owning and oeenpying the same for some years. Afterwards the heirs and devisees of Stephen Van Cortlandt snb-divided and disposed of their various traets of land to parties whose descendants still oe- cupy the same. Out of the immense traet comprising the present fonr towns of the northern tier, which comprised the Van Cortlandt manor and for which a qnit rental of forty shillings per annum was paid, abont eleven hundred acres remain in the possession of the Van Cortlandt family. This land is situated in the southern central part of the town of Somers and has been leased to resident farmers for the past seventy years.
On the 4th of June, 1760, Samuel Bayard granted to Haehaliah Brown, of Rye, "all that tract of land being in the northernmost part of the Mayor of Cort- landt, bounded North by the dividing line of Dutch- ess and Westchester, to the line of Phillips' npper patent, West by lot of Andrew Johnston, South by bounds of Samuel Brown, and East by Croton river." In the year 1762 Andrew Johnson again conveyed to Hachaliah Brown "all that lot of land situate, lying and being in lot No. 6, East range, and being part of North lot No. 7 at Plnm Brook, consist- ing of two hundred and thirty acres." Thns it will be seen that Hachaliah Brown became, next to the heirs of the Van Cortlandts, one of the largest landed proprietors in the town. His original grant included the water privileges in the northeastern portion of the town, on the Kitchewan or Croton River, near the present village of Croton Falls. The descendants of these first owners still oeeupy a portion of the origi- nal lands. In 1772, on the 3d of December, the devisees of Andrew Johnston conveyed to Lewis Bailey farm No. 9 in west range of lot No. 7. In 1775 the executors and heirs of Johnston conveyed to Abraham Theale certain lands situated on this same stream, Plum Brook. Again, in 1793, we find John Johnson, executor of Andrew Johnson, deed- ing to Benjamin Green, of Stephentown, a farm in
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