History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 78

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 78

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The second entry reads-" No. 57. Stephen Lyon, Westchester County, town of Mount Pleasant, addi- tional vein south of the minc, which is now on file, extending one mile south of said mine (gold and sil- ver). Jan. 30, 1824. 41. 296."

This last entry probably has connection with the formation of a company, chiefly composed of residents of Sing Sing, which was organized under the superin- tendence of the late Mr. George W. Cartwright, a civil engineer, in the year 1824, by whom the mine was re-opened. In order to inspire increased confi- dence in the minds of investors in the silver-mining stocks, and to show the people that the precious metal had formerly existed in these mines, having been worked successfully, and only abandoned on account of the Revolutionary War, which had terminated so disastrously to the British arms, that English capital- ists would not dare to resume their lucrative opera- tions, the following certificates were published by the American, or, more locally speaking, the Sing Sing Mining Company.

1 P. 504 of vol. i., 1st ed., 1848 ; p. 20, vol. ii., 2d ed., 1881, repeated verbatim.

324

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

"Sise SisG, March 3, 1824.

" This is to certify that at the commencement of the opening of the old silver-mine I was occasionally employed at and about the silver mine, as it was called in Sing Sing, for two or three years. I never went into the shaft to examine the veins, which I was informed were four in number, and resembled, in their direction, the branches of a tree, the largest of which I understood was abont twelve inches over. I have seen, at a time, hot far from thirty kegs of the ore in the storehouse. One of the miners extracted from what I judged to be about a pound of ore, nine shillings of pure silver. According to the best of my recollection, there were twenty tivo persons constantly employed about the mine, sixteen of whom were considered the first-rate miners from Europe, all concur- ring in the opinion that the mine was very rich. The mine was worked day and night to the last with great eagerness.

" JAMES MOCORD." -

"SING SING, March 4, 1824.

" I do hereby certify that I well recollect the old silver-mine in Sing- Sing was worked day and night by Colonel James (n British officer) until the battle of Bunker's Hill. The miners were considered first-rate judges, and all, with one accord, pronounced the mine very rich.

" DAVID HITCHCOCK."

" SING-SING, March 5, 1824.

" I do hereby certify that I was personally acquainted with Albert Anser, of the town of Mount Pleasant, deceased, and believe him to have been a man of truth and respectability. 1 have heard him speak frequently of the Sing Sing mine. Ile informed me lie was the first person who discovered it. Ile found a piece of silver on the top of a rock, which he had cut ont with a chisel. The mine was worked for some years under the superintendence of Colonel James and he considered it as very valuable.

" JOSEPH IlUST."

Notwithstanding the flattering opinions given in these documents of the silver-mine, the Sing Sing Company was never able to reap any profit from their new explorations. After penetrating for some dis- tance, they found that the character of the rocks sud- denly changed, and the silver vein was entirely lost. They then gave up the search.

Still another attempt was made to open up the old mine. A company known as " The Sing Sing Silver- Mining Company" was formed, which was ineorpor- ated April 16, 1857, Dr. Benjamin Brandreth, General Aaron Ward and the Hon. John T. Hoffman being the charter members. The capital of the company was one hundred thousand dollars, with authority to inercase it to one million dollars. They drew the water out of the mine, and then, seeming to think that the appearances were not sufficiently promising, they stopped operations.

A gentleman who resided in Yonkers, named Sam- son Simpson, is said to have owned a set of silver spoons made of ore extracted from this minc, and an- other gentleman, residing in New Jersey, is said to have possessed a silver pitcher also of the silver mined in Sing Sing.

THE COPPER-MINE IN SPARTA .- A vein of copper- ore was discovered by accident, in the year 1820, on the high marble cliff in Sparta about cighty feet above tide-water, three hundred feet east ofthe Hudson River and about one hundred rods south of the State Prison. The appearances seemed so favorable for the exist- ence of copper in paying quantities, that a company was formed to mine for the metal. It was incorpo- rated on the 12th of April, 1824, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, Edward Kemeys, Henry Waller,

Aaron Ward, George W. Cartwright and Amos Dun- ning being the charter members. In the year 1827 they snnk a shaft in the cliff' to a depth of about thirty feet, from which, probably, three tons of ore were taken up. From a series of assays it appeared that the specimens yielded from twenty-five to seven- ty-four per eent. of pure eopper. In the fall of 1827 an adit was opened by the company at the level of the river at high-water, for about four hundred feet into the cliff, where it met the perpendicular shaft, which was now sunk to the depth of eighty feet in order to ctfect the junction. Afterwards the com- pany made other excavations, the whole amonnting to five hundred and thirty feet. Beyond the "pocket" which they struck near the top of the ground, they found nothing to reward their search. The com- pany's money, which was not very ample at the start, gave out at this point. An appeal to the public to invest in the enterprise met with no satisfactory re- sponse and the work was abandoned.

In the circular issued by the company to attract investors, it was claimed that the indications were unmistakable, that there was an abundance of copper- ore in the immediate location of their mine, and they mentioned, as a proof, the assertion that oysters and clams along the margin of the cliff were so strongly impregnated with copper as to be unfit for nse. But the most certain and satisfactory evidence, they claimed, was the existence of large, regular, well-de- fined lodes or veins, found in the locality, which were traceable for miles, and, in particular, a lode within thirty feet of, and nearly parallel to, that which they were working. These two veins were converg- ing and would, they thought, have united within thirty or forty feet below their excavations; and, in that event, they expected to find large mineral treas- ures at the conjunction.

The operations of the company were conducted under the direction of Joseph Tregaskis, an expe- rienced miner of Cornwall, England. The company had a lease of the ground for forty years.

About twenty-five years ago Mr. Kemeys had the perpendicular shaft cleared of the rubbish which had been pitched into it from time to time. He soon be- came discouraged, and abandoned the "copper- mine," the working of which will probably never again be undertaken. There are one or two tunnels to be seen in Spring Valley, about two and one-half miles northeast of the village of Sing Sing, one of which is in a ridge of the same dolomitie limestone als that of the prison quarries, excepting that it is more sandy and crumbling. Tradition tells us that they were made by the same prospecting explorers that opened the shafts near the river. already described.

EARLY HISTORY OF SING SING .- At the time of the sales of the lands in this vicinity by the Commis- sioners of Forfeitures, in 1785, just a century ago, there were but three dwelling-houses in Sing Sing. We have already sech that it was, not long before, a mere

Line bord

OSSINING.

325

Indian village. A stone "mansion," probably only one story high, then stood where the Croton Aqueduct meets Main Street, which not only served Moses Ward as a dwelling, but also as a fortress for defense against the Indians. While writing this sketch, I have been informed by Mr. Daniel Delevan Man- gam that he well remembers hearing his grandmother relate her personal knowledge of the Indians-of their going forth in their canoes in the mornings from the Kill-brook to the Hudson, and of their return in the evenings, after the day's fishing and hunting was over, to rest in the valley or to sleep in the great cave of the Kill, which the writer well remembers thirty- odd years ago to have been of considerable capacity, but which has rapidly crumbled, filled and almost vanished during this period of time.

The rude little diagrammatic map here presented exhibits the relative positions and number of acres of the farms pur- chased by the early settlers at the time of the manor sales, when Sing Sing was a mere name for the locality where, in time, a village was to grow. The proportions are not drawn with accuracy. The cor- poration boundary and the location of the prison are traced to make the map more readily understood. The word "do" beneath a name signifies that the person who bought the land from the Commis- sioners of Forfcitures had previously been its tenant. When such was not the case, the name of the tenant is put below that of the purchaser and inclosed in paren- theses.

Besides the names on this map, among the other early settlers were the Ackers, Millers, Storms, Bayles, MeCords, Ryders, Yale and others. The descendants of almost all of these families are still quite numerous in our community.

The sources of information for the above statements are the two editions of Bolton's history of the county and a "Historical Sketch," by Rev. Alex. Watson, published in a pamphlet (8vo., pp. 46, printed at Scarborough in 1876), entitled "Centennial Anniversary of American Independence, at Sing Sing, N. Y., July 4th, 1876, etc."

The McCord family, which has long been known in Westchester County, is of Scotch origin, and the numerous representatives of it are the descendants of four brothers, who came to this country prior to the Revolution. Of these brothers, one, Benjamin, was the father of Jordan McCord, whose son Lewis was the father of the subject of this sketch.

Henry D. McCord was born at Sing Sing, Septem- ber 15, 1836. In his boyhood he attended the public school of his native village, but having lost his mother at the early age of twelve years, he was thrown upon his own resources, and first found employment

as a clerk in a grocery store, receiving two dollars a month and his board. After remaining at this place for eight years, lic entered the establishment of Wil- liam D. Mangam, 92 Broad Street, New York, and remained there till the death of Mr. Mangam in 1870. He then went into business on his own account at the same locality, and has continued it till the present time with energy and success.

In 1875 Mr. McCord purchased an estate near the south limits of the village of Sing Sing, which has since been his residence. He is also largely inter- ested in real estate in various parts of the village. Independent in politics, Mr. McCord has never sought for official honors, and has declined to accept nominations when their acceptance would have been equivalent to election. A close attention to his busi-

Albert Orser

POST ROJ

Sol Sherwood

Grazie/ Muller

133A

P Van

S Drake

143 A

137Acres

& W" Haight

Sing Sing

Moses Ward 67

114 Acres

Moses Ward,'

Marvel Garrison do 203 Acres

River

196

Acres,'

Elijah Hunter.

Pri

(D Van Tassel )

EARLY FARM MAP OF SING SING.

ness has rendered it both extensive and profitable, and his house holds a good position among the mer- cantile firms of the city. He is known as one who enters upon any enterprise with energy and perse- verance, and is a good representative of the thor- ough-going and active business man.

Mr. McCord married Esther E., daughter of Rich- ard Noe. They are the parents of four children, Ilarry W., William M., Minnie E. and Clara B.1

A member of the David B. Moses family writes: " The question is often asked, why this branch of the Moses family are not Jews, as that race has generally claimed to own all of that name since the time when Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness. Al-

1 This sketch of the McCord family was contributed by the Editor.

70 4

83Acres John Bishop., Ki

Acres

LAKE ROAD

OLD CROTON

POST ROAD

Hudson

164 Acres

Samuel Drake (Henry Cranch) 14/Acres

326

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

though long since separated from the Hebrews, they may yet possess some of their peculiar qualities, such as the love of money and the absence of intemperance. Who ever saw a Jew that was a drunkard or a pauper"?" The tradition of the family is that about 1620 a young Jewish gentleman married a young lady of the Gentiles, whose influence induced him to change his religion, and thus caused him to be expelled from the syna- gogue, and this made it necessary for him to labor like other Gentiles, so he chose to be a blacksmith, joined the Pilgrims and came to America in 1630. He settled at Dorchester, Mass., and it is said that the anvil which he brought from the old world is still in possession of some of his descendants with its history marked upon it. He is probably the John Moses who is mentioned in the town records of Simsbury, Conn., as having left England in 1630 and settled at Dorches- ter, Mass., and came to Simsbury in 1667. Mark Moses, who died at Epsom, N. H., October 2, 1789, aged eighty- six, was the father of Aaron Moses, whose son William was the father of David B. Moses. William Moses married Susan, daughter of David Boynton, who was one of the first settlers of Laconia, N. II., and whose genealogy traces back to Bartholomew De Boynton, who lived in England abont 1067. His descendants, William and John Boynton, were among the first to establish a colony at Rowley, Mass., by shipping to this country several lots of live-stock and farming implements, in 1637, and came themselves in 1638. One of the family, Sir Matthew Boynton, was one of the company with Oliver Cromwell and John Hamp- den, who started for America in. 1637, but were stopped by an order of Council, and thus changed the course of England's history. William and Susan Moses were the parents of seven sons, Charles, Nathaniel, Aaron, David B., John M., Hiram W. and William. Of these, Charles, the eldest son, died in 1866, leaving two chil- dren, Charles HI. and Lizzie W. Aaron lived in Jack- ensack, N. J., where he died in 1883; his children, John M. and Susan F., died before him. John M. died at his residence, Flemington, N. J., 1877. Na- thaniel is now living in Compton, N. HI. Hiram W. resides at Loudon, in the same State, and William is now in business in New York.

David B. Moses, was born at Gilmanton, N. H. September 29, 1809. After spending his youth in the way that farmers' boys generally do, by working on the farm and improving every opportunity to get an edu- cation, he went to Boston, where he spent a few years, principally in the employ of the old book pub- lishing firm of Wells & Lilly. From Boston he went to New York in 1834, and with his brother William, started in the provision trade under the firm name of D. B. & W. Moses, which he prosecuted with good success till 1864, when, having acquired a fair compe- tency, he retired from active business. This firm be- gan in a small way, but it soon became very extensive, as it formed connections with the various points in the west where the packing-business was principally

done. While at that early age of the provision trade no one thought of selling bacon for export, they made the first sale of twenty thousand pounds to the wine- merchants, Messrs. Bokers, to ship to Bremen. They also made about the first shipment of a few thousand pounds to England, which at that time was thought a very hazardous thing to do. At the present time it is no uncommon sight to see a steamer clearing for Liver- pool, with over half a million pounds on board. This contrast shows the great progress made in that basi- ness since they commeneed. Mr. Moses was one of the gentlemen who started the Irving National Bank, the Irving Insurance Company, and the Irving Sav- ings Bank, and took a very active and earnest interest in their management for some twenty-five years, and was also one of the original organizers of the New York Produce Exchange.

Five of the seven brothers were engaged at one time in the same business in New York, and two as farmers in New Hampshire. In 1848 two of the brothers, Charles and Aaron, commenced business un- der the firm name of C. & A. Moses, and so continued till 1860, when Charles retired and Aaron took as partner John M. Moses, another brother, with the firm name of A. & J. M. Moses. These firms have all left an honorable record as business men, of which their families may justly feel proud.

Some twenty-five years ago Mr. Moses purchased a place in Westchester County, near the village of Sing Sing, which he has added to from time to time. This is a part of the farm in the Manor of Phillipsburg, which was sold by the commissioners of forfeiture to James MeCord in 1784. In 1868 to 1870 he built a very fine residence of white marble, taken from the prison quarries, which he now occupies as a summer residence. In 1871 and 1872 he travelled with his family through pretty much all the places of interest in the old world, and while at Rome, he was presented to Pope Pius the Ninth, " whom he took to be a very fine and amiable old gentleman." While at Naples he ascended Mount Vesuvius, and also made one of a party of about one hundred Americans who joined in an excursion to the ruins of Pompeii, in company with General Sherman, Colonel Audenreid, and Colonel Grant. While at the ruins they witnessed the excavation of a buikling by order of the Italian Gov- ernment for their entertainment. All relics of any note found in the building were carefully preserved by the Italian Government authorities, who were present. This excursion was planned in honor of General Sherman and his associates. While in Lon- don, Mr. Moses obtained from the College of Heraldry. the old coat-of-arms of the Boynton and Moses fami- lies. He was married in 1840 to Miss Jeannet A. Campbell, who died in 1877. Her mother was a Kingsland, and a descendant of the Kingslands, of Lodi, N. J., whose ancestors first located the traet of land extending from the Hackensack to the Passaic Rivers. Ile has had five children, four of whom died

David B. Moses

327

OSSINING.

very young ; the one now living is a daughter, Isabel.

She was married in 1871 to Du Plesses M. IIelm, a lawyer who is now engaged in a very successful practice in the city of New York. They have three children, David B., Jeanette I. and Florence A.1

FARMS OCCUPYING GROUND WHERE SING SING NOW STANDS .- The ground upon which the corpora- tion of Sing Sing now stands was, after the sale of the Phillipse estate by the Commissioners of Forfeitures, occupied chiefly by the farms of John Bishop, Moses Ward and Elijah Hunter. Moses Ward's laud eon- sisted of two farms, one containing sixty-seven aeres and the other one hundred and fourteen. The first-mentioned farm was a long, narrow strip of land, having the Sing Sing Kill for its northern boundary, and a line which would have been nearly eoineident with Main Street for its southern boundary. It ex- tended from the Hudson River on the west to a point some distance beyond the Highland turnpike on the east.

The second farm of Moses Ward was almost in the shape of a square, with its northwestern corner, where it touched his smaller farm, eut off. Its western line extended along the Highland turnpike about as far as Broad Avenue, and then ran due east until it joined the farm of Marvel Garrison, the greater part of which is now the property of Henry J. Baker. The line then ran due north about as far as to Clinton Avenue of the present day, and from that point ran west, in a line not deviating much from the above-mentioned avenue, until it struek his own smaller farm,

Ou the north side of the Sing Sing Kill, with the Kill as its southern boundary, was the farm of John Bishop, containing eighty-three acres. Its eastern boundary followed the Post-road to a point a short distance south of St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church. From that point the line ran a little south of west to the Hudson River, which was the western boundary. This farm embraced the greater part of the district known as Strangtown, and extended only a short distance beyond the present northern bound- ary of the village. Located to the north of the Bishop place was the farm of Albert Orser, contain- ing one hundred and sixty-four aeres. The village boundary takes in a small traet of land situated in the southwestern corner of this farm.

The farm of Elijah Hunter was of very irregular shape. It contained one hundred and ninety-six aeres. Main Street, from the Hudson River to the Post-road, where Moses Ward's larger farm com- meneed, was nearly coineident with its northern bound- ary. The line then ran south almost eoincident with the Post-road, until it had proceeded as far as the southwestern corner of Aaron Ward's farm, when it ran east along the southern boundary of Ward's farm, terminating with his southeastern corner. It

then took a general direction southeast for a short distance. The southern boundary ran due west a very short distance beyond the southern line of the village, and the Hudson River formed the western boundary.

The corporation line would also have taken in por- tions of the following farms: The southwestern cor- ner of the one hundred and forty-one acre tract of Samuel Drake, lyiug north of the Kill and east of the Post-road ; a tract of fourteen and one-half acres, also belonging to Samuel Drake, lying on the south side of the Kill, adjoining the eastern boundary of Aaron Ward's smaller farm ; the southern part of the one hundred and thirty-seven acres of Solomon Sherwood, located south of the Kill, and east of Drake's smaller tract; the southern part of the sev- enty aeres of Daniel Miller, lying east of Solomon Sherwood's land, and extending from the Kill as their northern boundary almost to the Croton road as their southern boundary; a very small portion of the farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres of William Haight, in which the junction of the road from Pleasantville with the Croton turnpike was lo- cated ; and the western portion of the two hundred and three acres of Marvel Garrison, which lay east of Moses Ward's and Elijah Hunter's land, and which is now owned almost in its entirety by Henry J. Baker.

A small piece of land containing two acres, belong- ing to Pierre Van Cortlandt, was situated on the south bank of the Kill, between the farm of Moses Ward and the small tract of Samuel Drake.

The little map is intended to show the relative po- sition of these early farms.

Among the well known citizens who have made their summer residence in Westchester County, while their business life is identified with New York City, a prominent place must be given to Orlando B. Pot- ter, late representative of the eleventh congressional distriet, in the Congress of the United States. De- scended from the purest line of New England ances- try, he is a lineal descendant of John Potter, one of the settlers of New Haven in 1639 and one of the signers of the New Haven covenant. His grand- father, Abel Potter, was a native of Hamden and afterwards resident of Northford, New Haven County, Conn. His father, Samuel Potter, was born at Ham- den and lived at Northford and upon arriving at manhood removed to Charlemont, Franklin County, Mass., in 1819, carrying his effects with two teams of oxen. He married Sophia, daughter of Samuel Rice and great-granddaughter of Moses Riee, the first set- tler of Charlemont, who was killed by the Indians, June 11, 1755, near a fort which he had ereeted to protect the settlement. The young couple made their home on a hillside farm, which overlooked the valley of the Deerfield. In this, their remote town, they passed their lives, and the hundred miles that separ- ated them from Boston, was, in those early times,

1 This sketch of David B. Moses was contributed by the Editor.

328

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

almost as great a distance as now separates the most distant portions of our country. Here they reared a family of ten children, eight of whom lived to mature years. The father of this family died at the age of eighty-six and the mother at the age of seventy-two.

Orlando B. Potter was the second son and third child, and was born in Charlemont, March 10, 1823. His older brother being absent at school or college, Orlando was the oldest child at home when he was from ten to sixteen years of age. As his father was often absent from home, engaged upon publie busi- ness, the care of the stock and farm devolved upon the young man, who took the lead in growing and harvesting the crops and in the winter leading his younger brothers and sisters to school, assisting them in their lessons while learning his own. To these early responsibilities may be attributed the habits of self-reliance and control which have dis- tinguished him in later years. At the age of six- teen he obtained permission from his parents to pre- pare himself for college, and he resolved to do this by his own exertions without adding to their burdens. By working upon the farmn in summer and attending school during the winter months he completed his preparation and entered Williams College in August, 1841. He maintained a high standing in his class, but his health failed on account of the great change from active outdoor life to confinement and close application to study. He left college in his sopho- more year, and, after a fishing trip at sea, obtained employment in teaching school at Dennis, Cape Cod. where he remained until the spring of 1845. Having resolved upon entering Dane Law School at Cam- bridge in the coming August, he engaged to teach a class of young ladies, and added to his slender means by hiring three aeres of ground which he cul- tivated as a garden. Upon the 1st of Angust, having marketed the products of his garden and closed his school, he found himself with fifty barrels of potatoes for which there was no market in Dennis.

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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 78

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