History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 110

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 110

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

472

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the northeast corner of lot No. 4, west range, being part of Andrew Johnson's Great Lot No. 7. Thus it is evident that the great lots were subdivided and re- subdivided by the successive heirs of the original families. Among the families to whom these lands were conveyed we find the names of the Browns, Baileys, Teeds, Greens, Travises, Carpenters, Owens and Hortons.

It has been stated that the purchase of land from the Indians by Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1699 was within the limits of Somers, but the deed distinctly says, " beginning on the south side of Kightawonek river, and so along said river." The location of this tract has not been clearly ascertained, but it is certain it is not within the present limits of Somers.

Evidence is plentiful that this territory was used largely as a hunting-ground by the various branches of Indian tribes that visited and crossed its ridges and vales. More especially is this the ease on the westerly ridges and high lands in the vicinity of Amnawalk Mountain. In this section arrow heads of different sizes are yearly turned up by the plow, while smooth, round stones of flinty composition are to be inet with frequently. On the top of this elevation of land is a smooth plateau where a number of Indian graves were found, this evidently having been selected by them for a burial place. Near this plateau is a large never- failing spring of the purest cold water. From this point one of the grandest views in this region may be ob- tained. To the west, the line of blue hills beyond the Hudson stand boldly outlined ; to the sonth, the bluffy margin of Long Island Sound appears ; to the east. the undulating surface of Eastern Connecticut, while away over the hills of Putnam County lie seat- tered the thrifty farms and hamlets nearly to its northern line. One can easily imagine the lighted signal fires of the original owners of this soil as they flashed from ridge to ridge from the Hudson to the Connectieut Rivers, giving notice of the approach of the foe, or calling distant sachems to the council fire. Just south of this spot and on the farm of Stephen Reynolds is a large boulder, some seven feet by five, aud four feet in height, lying on the surface of the ground in an open space between pieces of woodland. Near one end is a perfectly smooth, circular, bowl- shaped hollow, holding perhaps twelve quarts, which has evidently been used as an Indian mill. Arrow- heads of black flint have also been found embedded in oak and other species of trees in the woodlands bordering this vicinity.

Amawalk was an Indian village in 1609, and still retains its original name. Other evidences of a like nature as those recorded above have been found on the eastern ridges of the town, but they are mostly confined to a territory extending from southeast to northwest and about one and a half miles in width. Game abonnded in these forests, and fish were plenti- ful in the numerous streams. Even to the present day the smaller brooks are eagerly visited in the

season by the angler for the trout which breed in the clear, cold spring water that flows swiftly over their stony beds. Deer were numerous here as recently as 1780, and some were shot during the early part of the present century. This was the probable attrac- tion of these regions for the red men.

The agricultural capabilities of the town are unsur- passed in the county. The numerous intersecting streams, the rich intervales and plains, the fine pas- turage of the uplands, all combine to make Somers a favored territory in this respect. Along the valleys of the Croton and Muscoot Rivers the soil is adapted to the production of any kind of grain in abundance, while the higher lands are eminently fitted for graz- ing. In the early days of its history the attention of its people was mainly directed to the fattening of cat- tle for the markets of the cities. Its near contiguity to New York, and the excellent facilities afforded by the turnpike road running directly through the town to that metropolis, rendered the transportation of large droves of sheep and cattle a comparatively easy matter. Henee the early farmers engaged extensive- ly in this trade and it was a rare thing to find a far- mer who was not also a drover. The practice was to go to some of the western and northern counties and purchase large herds of cattle, bring them here and fatten them on the farm, then drive them to New York or Boston markets. It was in this way that many of the residents of the town laid the foundations of a large property. The New York Gazetteer, of an early date, says of this traffic : "The village of Somers' Plain is the principal market of lean stock of cattle and sheep, brought hither from various and distant parts of the country to supply the wants occasioned by the sales of fattened cattle and sheep to the butchers of New York. The farmers of this county carry on an extensive traffic in this way, and droves are annu- ally and almost constantly arriving from the inland regions, some from one hundred, two hundred and three hundred miles, to replace the consumption." From 1825 to 1850 there was an average of five thou- sand head of horned cattle annually fattened in this district for the New York markets. There were also kept at this period large flocks of sheep, and the wool crop was no inconsiderable source of revenue to the farmer. There are no certain means of arriving at the values of these productions in this early time, but one fact may be mentioned as exhibiting a slight in- dication. The Croton turnpike was organized in 1807, running from southeast directly through Somers to Sing Sing. It was the main highway to the markets of New York. Through the gates of this turnpike sheep were passed free of toll and cattle at twenty-five per cent. discount. These latter were charged by the score. At one of the gates on this high road two drov- ers alone paid one hundred and fifty dollars in the year 1839, while the total receipts, over one-half of which were for cattle, from this one gate, for the same year, were five hundred and eighty-six dollars, thus

473

SOMERS.

showing partially the extent of this business. With the advent of railroads and the increased demands of the larger population of the city, there came a change to the agrieulturists of the town, and the production of milk became the leading industry of the farm. At remunerative prices this was a valuable source of in- come, and for many years great and small farms en- gaged in this business, until at present it is hard to find a farmer who is not a milk producer. Yards of from twenty to two hundred cows are to be found, and the supply of milk ranges from one hundred aud tweuty to three thousand quarts per day shipped to the markets of the metropolis, while the produetiou of cattle, sheep and hogs has almost entirely ceased, the farmer purehasing his supplies in the market and devoting the resources of his farm to the production of milk exelnsively. The farms of Somers range in extent from seventy-five to three hundred aeres each, aud in many instances mueh attentiou has been be- stowed upon the cultivation of orchards, a matter which was greatly neglected in the earlier days. Thousands of trees of choice fruit dot the hillsides and northern slopes of the town and are sought by the shippers to foreign markets, at a fair price. It is es- timated that at least ten thousand barrels of first-class apples are annually produced in the town, some seasons exeeeding this amount. The average price paid at the farm is one dollar and seventy-five cents per barrel. The valuation of real estate in the town in 1877 was 81,455,455; 1880, $1,170,966; 1884, $1,078,941-showing a slight deerease. The rude farm-houses of the past have been replaced with elegant dwellings and the various appointments of the farm buildings have followed the progress of the age. Many of our townsmen sit in their cosy libra- ries or elegantly furnished parlors, surrounded with the luxurious improvements of the age, on the very site where stood the two-roomed log house of their grandsires, with its rude furniture and its walls pierced with loop-holes, to defend it from the approaching foe. The change has been complete and the days of the bone and sinew of the hardy pioneers have gone, so that, while there is an undoubted inerease of intel- lectuality, the physique of the population has deteri- orated and the bodily strength and vigor of the early settlers have become comparatively rare.

The principal manufacturing interest of the town was for a time conducted at the place and in the build- ings described further on as St. Joseph's College. Pre- vious to 1860 there were located at this place a fulling- mill and grist-mill and at one time a foundry, but the trade was simply a loeal one and no large amount of capital was invested ; the most extensive was, perhaps, the cloth-dressing establishment of Reuben C. Var- nall in this vicinity. Just northwest of this place, on a branch of the Museoot, called Mill Brook, were, in 1800, located the paper-mills and woolen-mills of Wallace & Miller. During the War of 1812 Daniel, Abram and Charles Miller were in partnership in the ii .- 42

woolen-mills on this stream and filled a large govern- ment contract for cloths and eassimeres for the army. After the war closed the firm dissolved aud the cloth- mills became paper-mills. These, in turn, were aball- doned some forty years ago. In the year 1864-65 the property now owned by the Christian Brothers was purchased by George Juengst, who was a German and inventor and mauufaeturer of sewing machines. He immediately took possession of the place, remodeled some of the old mill buildings and erected a large faetory and other buildings. He also erected a dam across the Muscoot River, at the west side of the cir- cular plateau upon which his factory and foundries - were located, thns giving him the best water-power in the county. The dam was constructed of solid ina- soury, bolted and cemeuted together, dressed stones of from two to four tons in weight being used and lined with brick work. The bed of the stream in this narrow gorge is solid rock, which, by the action of the water, has been worn into all kinds of fantastic shapes, presenting, in dry seasons, when the water is low be- low the dam, a weird appearance, inclosed as it is by perpendicular hills, covered with forest trees and ereeping vines.

After the completion of the works, and in 1866, a stoek company was formed by Mr. Juengst to manu- facture the Empire Sewing-Machiue, which was cov- ored with his patents, and business was begun at once. The place then took the name of Empireville. Here for a few years was a busy community. From seventy to one hundred hands were constantly employed, be- sides the work furnished to the inhabitants in the vicinity at times of greater activity. The raw niate- rial, for use at the works, was transported from Ka- tonah, on the Harlem railroad, three miles distant, aud the finished machines were shipped from that station. From eighty to one hundred machines per week were finished and shipped.

Thus matters progressed for some five years, when, the eity of New York having purchased the water at Lake Mahopac, the outlet of which is the Muscoot River, and having, by the terms of this purchase, ob- tained the power to confine the waters in the lake basin during the summer season, destroyed the value of the immense water-power at Empireville, and the gigantie wheel, which, with its systems of cogs and belts, gave the hum of busy trade to the numerous lathes aud spindles in the great factory, eeased its revolutions. The property was sold to the Reming- tons, of Ilion, N. Y., and the Empire merged into the Remington Sewing-Machine in 1871, thus elosing up the prosperous manufacturing interest of Somers. In the early part of the century, and up to about forty years ago, a paper-mill, clothier's works and grist-mill were located at Owensville (now Croton Falls), in the northeast corner of the town. They were owned and operated by John Owen, but have long since ceased to exist. The water privileges of Somers are excellent and the hydraulie power unsurpassed at points on

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

either branch of the Croton River, the Muscoot River, and Plum Brook, but the purchase of the water before alluded to by the city of New York, has effectually settled the question of any extensive manufacturing interests being located on any of these streams.

In 1835 the population of the town was 1900; in 1840, 2082; in 1850, 1782 ; in 1860, 2012; in 1875, 1631 ; in 1880, 1630.

The valuation of real and personal property thirty years ago, or in 1855, was $1,366,533. Now it is $1,- 278,635. In 1855, which was previous to the active production of milk, which has since supplanted all other industries, the amount of butter produced in the town was one hundred and one thousand two hundred and seventy-eight pounds ; of cheese four hundred and ninety-five pounds ; Somers being the third town in the county in these products; at present not one-fortieth of that amount of butter is produced and no chcese is manufactured for market. The land area of the town is seventeen thousand two hundred and thirty-four acres, nine-tenths of which is devoted to the production of milk. The forest trees are being felled and are rapidly vanishing from the view to give more pasturage facilities, while at every station on the railroads leading to this vicinity are cars loaded with brewers' grains, or the refuse of the starch facto- ries, which are purchased in the cities and fed to the cows in the country to make, in return, milk for the cities.

POLITICAL HISTORY -In the old town-books ap- pear the following "Records of the proceedings from the first town-meeting of the people of Steph- entown, being in the year of our Lord One Thou- sand Seven Hundred and Fighty-eight, whereof William Horton, Esq., was chosen town clerk. The first Tuesday in April in the above year written, the people of Stephentown met at the house of Benjamin Green for choosing town officers and other necessary business of the town for the ensuing year."

William llorton, Esq., town clerk.

Ilachaliah Brown, supervisor.

Obadiah l'urdy, Nathaniel Wright, Herman Hilliker, Samuel Green, assessors.

lolin Stedwell, Jacob Lent, overseers of the poor.

Benjamin Green, constable and collector. Jacob Lent, security. Mary Pinckney, Martha Osburn, Benjamin Green, pound masters.

David Montross, Nathaniel Wright, Reuben Wright, Thomas Sea" muour, Nathan Brown. Abrum Brown, Joseph Griffin, Archer lleed, Wm. Powell, John O. Bryant, fence and damage viewers.

Thaddeus Mead, William Teed, Jr., John Hallock, Joseph Horton, Joseph Griffen, David Montross, John Montross, William Beadle, William Horton, William l'owell, Levi Parent, Moses Tompkins, Joseph Haden, Abram I'nderhill, Jonathan Travis, overseers of highways.

"Voted at the above meeting, that no person is to block Croton River untill the 15th day of May next in the forfeiture of Ten Pounds."

It would seem to have been a practice to place logs of wood or walls of stone in the streams, nearly " blocking " them, and in the narrow aperture thus produced for the waters to flow through, to cause nets or huge wieker-baskets to be placed to catch

the fish. Thus we find that one of the first town or- dinances related to fisheries. Even then protection had extended to fish. Again: " Voted also, that no rams are to run at large from the 20th day of August untill the 5th day of November following. Also voted, that the next meeting be held at the house of Benjamin Green, Innkeeper, in Stephentown." This record of the first meeting held in the town is con- tained in a ledger kept for the purpose, and is in clear, careful, old style handwriting and concise in expression. It was not the first time Hachaliah Brown had occupied the supervisor's position, as he had held the sinne office in Upper Salem two years previously. William Horton, the town elerk, was a farmer and merehant, residing on the estate now be- longing to Charles G. Teed, his grandson. The country store was situated on the corner of Lovell Street and the Peekskill road, and for many years was called "Teed's Corner," as, in after-years, Charles and William Teed continued the mercantile business here. It was a central part of the town, on a line from east to west. A few rods from this corner was the inn of Benjamin Green, where the town-meetings were held. The house-a large two-story building, plain and substantial-is still in good condition and is owned, together with the farm, by Randolph Aus- tin, who is a member of one of the old families of Somers. At this time the hills of the town were thickly covered with a growth of oak, hickory, ash and chestnut, and the farms were, in many instances, but clearings on the upland and meadow in the val- leys of the streams. As this date was directly after the declaration of peace, money was scarce in the town and exchange was the mercantile method adopted. Farms were purchased from the Van Cortlandt family and paid for in wheat and money. It seems, however, that some property was vested in the cause of the later War of the Rebellion, as we find records in 1789, the next year after the erection of the township, of the manumission of slaves, as follows :

"We, the subscribers, being the Overseers of the Poor of Stephen Town, in the County of Westchester and two of the Justices of the l'eace for said County, upon the application of Reuben Wright Respecting the Manumitting his Slaves, one named Dinah, aged Twenty-one years, and one named Sib, agel Nineteen years. We having examined into said Business agreeable to the form of an Act entitled an Act Concerning Slaves, passed the 22nd day of February, 1788, do Certify that the said slaves are under Fifty years of age and of sufficient ability to provide for themselves, and do allow the same to be recorded. Given under our hands this 12th day of Ang., 1789.

" Entered and recorded 25th Sep., 1789.

"ABRAM BROWN, THOMAS U'NDERNILL., Overseers of the Poor.

"WILLIAM HORTON, BENJAMIN STEVENSON, Justices.

" WILLIAN HORTON, Torn Clerk."

Then follow similar records regarding the manu- mission of one " Prince" by Hachaliah Brown, in 1792, and " Richard " by the same, in 1807. The last entry is the manumission of two slaves, named " Lewis " and " Mathias," by Lewis Brown, in 1823.

They had an excise board in these days, it seems, for, on date of March 2, 1790, we find :

475

SOMERS.

" Excise sold this year : Benjamin Haight. 3 10 0

Benjamin Green. 2 10 0

William Martin. 2 0 0

Micajah Wright . 2 0 0."

At a later date is the following record of the first regular license granted in the town :

" Westchester County. We, Abraham Brown, Robert Graham and Daniel Quick (Commissioners for Granting Excise for the town of Stephen Town, in said County, for the year One Thousand Eight Hun- dred and Two), do hereby resolve that Ozias Osburn, Wilham Green, Benjamin Green, John Hubard, Hacaliah Bailey shall be Licensed and permitted to keep an Inn or Tavern, and to Retail Strong or Spiritons Liqnors under Five Gallons to be Drunken in their Respective Dwelling- houses and Stores, Each of them Seperately untill the First Tuesday of May next, etc. Given over our hand the fourth Day of May, 1802.

"ABRAHAM BROWN, ) " ROBERT GRAHAM, " DANIEL QUICK."

. Commissioners.

At the town-mecting held in 1790, it was " Voted for a bridge to be built over the Crotou River, at or near the spot where the okl bridge formerly stood, by the name of (Holding's Bridge." A very neat iron structure now spans the river at this point, crected by the King Iron Bridge Company., of Cleveland, O., under the supervision of James P. Teed and John C. Holmes, supervisors of Somers and Lewisboro'. The name has been corrupted from Golding's to Golden's Bridge, the place having received its name from Abraham Golding, who resided in the vicinity and was a prominent resident of the town. He, with the members of his family, are buried iu the grave-yard of Mount Zion Church, of which society he was one of the organizers.

The jury list for the town in 1819 included one hundred and fifty-four names. On July 1, 1830, there were one hundred and sixty names recorded. The present number is eighty-six. In the early days of the town, fences were scarce and the timber was in many places dense in growth; it was, therefore, not uncommon for stock to wander away from its owners. Hence we find recorded a list or, as it is teried "A Record of Marks" by which this stock was to be identified. There was also a law that any stock, horses, sheep, or cattle that had strayed into the in- closure of a person should be described and recorded at once on the town records. We find "William Horton's Ear mark is a half penny the under side of the Near Ear aud a half-penny the upper side of the Ear." " Hachaliah Brown's Ear mark is two slits on the Near Ear, otherwise called a Fleur-de-lis and a nick the under side of the Off Ear." "Samuel Green's mark, a swallow fork on the Near Ear, and a half-peuny under the Off Ear," etc., etc., thus making the matter of identification a com- paratively casy task. The town-meetings were usually held at the house of Benjamin Green or at the store of C. G. & W. E. Teed with an occasional variation to the house of Uel Todd, which was situated about three miles south of Benjamin Green's and more cen- tral in location north and south. In 1846 a portiou of the town, including Pine's Bridge, was annexed to

New Castle, as it was iuconvenient for the residents of the southern corner of Somers to travel some miles arouud Croton Lake to attend a town-meeting. After this the town elcetions were held at Tecd's corner until they were called at Somerstown Plain, where they are now held. In 1820 a bounty of one dollar and fifty cents was voted for every fox killed in the town. In 1885 a bounty of one and one-half cents was voted for the same. The following is the list of supervisors and town-clerks of the town.

SUPERVISORS.

1788-91 . . . Hachaliah Brown. 1851-53 . . . Silas Gregory.

1791-1807 . . Abram Brown. 1853-54. . . Israel Green.

1807-15 . . . Joseph Owen. 185-1-56. . . Wm. Marshall, Jr.

1817-18 . . . Joseph Owen.

1856-57 . . . Joseph Reynokls.

1818-33 . . . Stephen Brown, Jr.

1857-58 . . . Silas Gregory.

1833-37. . . Gerard Crane.

1858-62 . . . Wm. Marshall, Jr.

1837-41 . . . Win. Marshall.

1862-67 . . . Wm. E. Teed.

1841-44 . . . Israel Green.

1868. . . . James W. Bedell.

1844-45. . . Stephen Brown, Jr.

1869. . . Wm. Marshall.

1845-46. . . Israel Green.

1870-71. . . Wm. E. Teed.

1846-48 . . . Silas Gregory.

1872. . . . Stephen Brown.

1848-49. . . Jesse Horton. 1873-74. . . Jesse G. Carpenter.

1849-50. . . Wm. E. Teed.

1875-79 . . . Thaddeus Crane.

1850-51 . . . Joseph Griffin.

1880. . James P. Teed. I

TOWN CLERKS.

1788-94 . . . Wni. Horton. 1845-49. . . Wm. E. Tweed.

1794-1815 . . Samnel Green. 1850-51. . . Israel Green.

1815-35 . . . Fred. J. Coffin. 1852. . . . . Wm. Turk.

1835-41 . . . Israel Green.

1853-61 . . . Win, Gerritsen.

1842. .. . . . John Green.

1862. . . . . James Ilyatt.

1843. . . Wm. E. Teed.

1863-74. . . Wm. Gerritsen.

1841. . . Fred. I. Coffin.

1875 . . Jacob W. Tompkins.2

Of late years it has been the practice to alteruate the choice for supervisor between the two political parties, giving no opposition to the candidate who would best conserve the interests of the tax-payers. In 1884 the total vote of Somers was four hundred and eleven, being for judges of appeals. The Presi- dential vote was three hundred and seventy-one. In 1880 it was four hundred and four. The average votc of the town for many years has been some three hundred and forty. In the election of 1800, when Jefferson rau for President, ten votes were cast for him in this town, one of the ten voters being Ebene- zer Frost, the father of Munson E. Frost, of West Somers. Robert Graham, whose uame frequently ap- pears on the town records, was one of the deputics from the county to attend the Provincial Convention ou April 20, 1775, at New York, to choose delegates to represent the colony at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on the 10th of the succeeding month. He was a member of the first and second Provincial Congresses. Frederick J. Coffin, the surrogate of the county iu 1846, was also a resident of the town of Somers. In 1812 Captain Lewis Brown reported, as one of the officers to collect military taxables, five Quakers in the town whose taxes were placed by the Board of Supervisors at four dollars cach, making twenty dollars, for which warrants were issued for collection.

1 Present incumbent of the office.

2 Pigsent incumbent.

Ce VE 1- th

£ 8. d.

476

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

The assessment of real and personal property in Somers in 1808 was $3317.57. In 1815 it was $5,773.70, and in 1885 it is $1,278,635. In 1883 it was "voted to raise by tax 8750 to build a bridge over Muscoot River, near the mill of Wm. and George Nelson, provided the Legislature of that year did not pass a bill which would cause the said bridge to be overflowed." The Aqueduct Bill was passed by the Legislature and hence the action of the town was void. This bill, which provides for the construction of a dam or dams across the Croton River in order to secure an increased water supply in New York, will submerge much of the valuable landed property in the southern part of the town, together with a large extent of the existing highways.

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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 110

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