History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 99

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 99

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Mr. Scriba was twice married. His first wife was Sa- rah Dundas, sister of Anna, who married his brother, Frederick G. Seriba. After her death, he married her sister, Maria, who was the widow of his partner, Fred- criekjW. Starman. He left one son, Frederick William Scriba, who died in Constantia, 10th of May, 1857.

James Dundas, mentioned above, was a representa- tive of the ancient family of that name so famous in Scottish history, and his ancestor came to America after the battle of Culloden. Besides the daughters who married the brothers Scriba, another married Henry Pratt, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, whose country-seat was famous for elegance and hospitality. Their nephew, James Dundas, was president of the Commercial Bank of Philadelphia, and lost a baronetey and the manor in Scotland because his father sided with the Americans during the Revolution. There are few families who can boast of a more ancient origin, and the castle of Dundas, in Scotland, has been in their possession for a period of seven hundred years. Their earliest ancestor, Cospatrick. Earl of North- umberland, was a descendant of the Saxon Kings of England, and after the conquest by the Normans, A.D. 1066, retired into Scotland, where he was received

with great honor, and ereated Earl of Dunbar and March by Malcohn Canmore, King of Scotland, the successor of Macbeth and son of the murdered Duncan.

The Boscobel House .- Near Cruger's Station stands Boscobel House named after the old Boseobel House in England, which received its designation on account of the fine oak trees which surrounded it, and which was once resembled in this respeet by the mansion at Crugers. The house is built in the French style. From it ean be obtained one of those striking views with which the whole town abounds. The house was formerly the residence of Staats Morris Dyckman, who was the fifth son of Jacob Dyekman of Philips- burgh, and the protege of General Staats Morris. He was also for many years private secretary for Sir William Erskine, Commissary General of the Brit- ish army, and when the latter died in 1795, received a large and valuable amount of property by bequest from him. Shortly after this occurrenee he came to this place and erected the mansion. The present occu- pant of the house is Col. John P. Cruger, who married Elizabeth, grand-daughter of the original owner.

The house abounds in eurious articles. There are numbers of old and rare books, a pieture by Stuart of James Ogilvie, Earl of Findlater, a teacher of elocu- tion in New York eity, and formerly a frequent visitor at the Boscobel House, a miniature of the Holy Fam- ily by Michael Angelo, a picture of the Holy Family by Raphael (brought from England by Staats Morris Dyckman), a miniature in ivory of George HHI. and Queen Charlotte,-the work of English prisoners in India,-and many other valuable works of art. The flute used by Major André is preserved at this house, and there is also a gold enameled snuff-box made of the Boseobel oak in which Charles H. concealed him- self in 1665, containing a medallion of that monarch.

Cruger's Station and the Cruger Family .- Cruger's Station, in the vicinity of the Boscobel House, de- rives its name from the Cruger family, who have long owned land in the vicinity. The family is an old one. The first of the line in this country was John Cruger, who came from Germany in 1700, and became a prom- inent merchant of New York city. He was Mayor of the city from 1739 until his death, on Aug. 13, 1744.

The second of his three sons was Henry, who was sent by his father to Bristol, England, to enter a counting-house. He was successful in business. In 1744 he and Edmund Burke were nominated for l'ar- liament from Bristol and elected. After obtaining further political honors in Bristol, he came back about 1790 to New York city. Hle again entered political life, and in 1792 was elected a State Senator. He died at his residence, at 382 Greenwich Street. New York, April 24, 1827, at the age of eighty-eight.

His ellest son by his second wife was Henry Il. Cruger. Henry II. Cruger's third son was John Cru- ger, who was the father of Henry Cruger, the Hon. Nicholas Cruger and Col. John P'. Cruger, present owner of Boscobel House, at Cruger Station.

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CORTLANDT.

At Cruger's Station arc two brick-yards, owned by John P. Cruger, one of which is leased by Adam Fisher. Both yards employ abont seventy men.

Boscobel Methodist Episcopal Church .- The hamlet of Boscobel, consisting of about eight houses, is lo- cated about a mile east of Cruger's Station. It eon- tains a small church, known as the. Boscobel Metho- dist Episcopal Church. The lot was purchased August 14, 1868, and the building was erected on it but a short time after. The church is now on a circuit including also the Furnace Woods and Centerville Methodist Episcopal Churches. At the present time (1884) it does not have a single male member.

OSCAWANNA ISLAND AND FURNACE BROOK .- A short distance south of Cruger's Station is Oscawanna Island, a great place of resort for picnic parties. It was purchased in 1883 from Henry P. De Graff, the presi- dent of the Bowery Bank in New York City, by John Keyes, who is the present owner. On the hill to the east is the handsome residenee of Mr. De Graff. Oseawanna Station is less than a mile below.

Near this station the Furnace Brook pours its waters into the Hudson. Formerly it was known by the pretty name of Jamawissa Creek, whieli was of In- dian derivation. Upon it were located the flour-mills of the Van Cortlandt manor, 1 which must have ex- isted there from a very remote period, as the brook in the partition map of the inanor, made in 1734, is re- ferred to as " The old mill stream." On the property of Mr. Samuel F. Phelps is located a flour-mill, which was built about the close of the Revolutionary war. Its frame is constructed of enormous white oak log-, as solid as when they were first put there, some of which are fourtcen inches square and thirty feet long. The mill has not been operated since 1875.

A few feet distant is the site upon which formerly stood an old furnace for blasting iron. From it the brook received its present name, as did also a tract of forest known as the Furnace Woods, consisting of about one thousand five hundred acres, which sur- rounds it.

The company which operated the furnace was established in England in 1760, and employed Ger- mans in the work of running and smelting the iron. The result of the running operations was not satis- factory, and iron-ore is said to have been subsequently brought to the place from the Queensburg Mine, in Rockland County, by way of the King's Ferry. This was too expensive, and the furnace was abandoned previous to the Revolution. Numerous lumps of iron are still found in the vicinity of the old furnace, but the structure itself has long since gone to pieces. The iron-ore which exists in this neighborhood has been mined more than once since, but has been found to be so largely mixed with sulphur as to prevent the manufacture of first-class metal.

Beside the mill on Mr. Phelps' property stands a

very old residence, which is constructed of bricks ini- ported from Holland, and which is probably about one hundred and fifty years of age. In a field not far distant is a family burial-place, which contains a number of graves, over one of which is a tombstone bearing the date 1741.

MOUNT AIRY .- A short distance south of Furnace Woods is the small cluster of houses to which, from their elevated and breezy situation, has been given the name of Mount Airy. A small church located at Mount Airy was erected, according to the most reli- able information, in 1841, by the efforts of the Pro- testant Methodists, a small number of whom lived in the locality at the time. There was an understand- ing, however, that the church was to be open to the ministers of all evangelical denominations. The ground was donated by Caleb McCord. There are no Protestant Methodists at present about Mount Airy, but services are held once a month by the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Croton. A small, but flourishing Sunday-school meets at the church every Sunday afternoon. The present trustees (1884) are Daniel Haines and Jacob Wright.

CROTON .- The village of Croton is situated about a mile and a half north of the southern bonndary of the town, and in 1880 contained eight hundred and eighty inhabitants. It contains two briek-yards, the north- erly and smaller one being operated by Schuyler Hamilton of Sing Sing, and employing about thirty men, and the lower by George D. Arthur & Co., (Francis Larkin and Marcus L. Cobb of Sing Sing, being the company), employing about fifty hands. The latter yard was started about 1830 by John W. Frost, the father of Cyrus and Orrin Frost.

John W. Frost was born in the town of Somers, Westchester County, N. Y., on June 23, 1792, and was one of a family long identified with the history and public interests of the county and State.

About the year 1730 there came from England and settled near Reading, Mass., two brothers Frost, one of whom removed thence to Long Island ; the other, after leaving Massachusetts, resided near Putnam's Corner (now Carmel), Putnam County, N. Y., and sub- sequently enlisted in the French War, was stationed a long time at Montreal, served under General Wolfe at the taking of Quebec in the year 1759, and died about the year 1800.

John Frost, son of the above-named first settler, and grandfather of the subject of this memoir, was a man of great piety and patriotism. He left Reading, Mass., in his youth, and is known to have resided subsequently south of Putnam's Corner. At about the age of eighteen he was at Fort Montgomery, in the Highlands of the Hudson, when that fort was taken by the British.

At the assault, when the enemy were pressing the patriot ranks, and bayoneting the men in almost reg- ular succession, as they approached, Ilewson, a neigh- bor of Frost, and in the ranks with him, noticing that

1 Bolton's " History of Westchester County," vol. i., p. 183, new edition.

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the latter was in imminent peril, leaped between his friend and the hostile bayonet that was threatening to impale him, exclaiming, "You shan't bayonet him ; he is my brother." Being a large, heavy man, he succeeded in thrusting aside the gun, and thus saved the life of his friend, who, however, was taken prisoner. During the war he married Miss IFuldey Munsen, a former resident of Reading, Mass.

Hon. Joel Frost, son of John and father of John W. Frost, married Martha Wright. He represented the Westchester and Putnam District, as Whig mem - ber of the Eighteenth Congress, from 1823 to 1825. He was the first surrogate of Putnam County, and held that office for many years. He was also Assem- blyman in the State Legislature in 1806 and in 1808.

He was also judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and a member of the convention that revised the Con- stitution of the State of New York in 1821.

Judge Joel Frost had died poor in fortune, but rich in honor, and his son John W. started out to make his own way in the world. Though quiet and re- served in manner, he possessed great tenderness and delicacy of character. He was earnest and energetic in business affairs, and had a remarkable memory.

For many years he earried on a mercantile business at Croton, in the town of Cortlandt, and was also a pioneer in the manufacture of bricks on the Hudson. He was ingenious in contrivanees for facilitating the process, and the success of that business on the Hud- son owes much to his skill and judgment.

He was in the War of 1812, for a long time a director in the Westchester County National Bank, and supervisor of the town of Cortlandt for twelve years. In 1831 he was elected, as his father had been before him, Assemblyman in the State Legislature from Westehester County. He was a member of the Whig party until its dissolution, and after that, the stanehest of Republicans.

More than thirty years ago he retired to the home that he had built near Croton, upon the spot where he had long before desired to live. After retiring thither from active life, he devoted himself to his favorite agricultural and horticultural pursuits.

Mr. Frost was the last of the old settlers of this region. After a short illness, with his family around him, on September 7, 1882, in the ninety-first year of his age, he passed away as peacefully and cahnly as one falling into a gentle slumber. He left the exant- ple of a long life of an eminently good citizen, a kind, faithful and indulgent husband and father.

For strength, sweetness and integrity of character, he was always a bright example, and his keen intelli- gence and thirst for information never left him till the last. His was the serions, yet serene and cheerful mind, that is the source of every virtue, and the only character that does honor to humanity. Ile inherited and transmitted those sterling qualities of the early settlers of New England, that are yet the potent though silent influence in giving form and character

to communities all over our land, eveu to the remotest frontier. Blessed be their memory.

John W. Frost married Miss Phebe Coeks, daughter of Adonijah Coeks, of Croton, a woman of rare and unassuming merit, and in her maturity an acceptable counselor and exhorter in the Society of Friends.

Their sons are Cyrus, who, for forty years or more, continued the mercantile business established by his father in Croton ; was for many years director and then president of Westchester County National Bank; always an earnest and consistent Whig and Republi- can, he was a very tower of strength to his party in all political eontests, and he now enjoys an enviable weight of character and social influenee, the reward of an upright life.

Orrin, who has continued the brick business sue- cessfully, employing about one hundred men, and whose solid worth as a business man, an employer aud a citizen, is recognized by all.

Eugene, who was a merchant for many years in Croton, served a long turn as harbor-master of New York City, and then retired to his farm on the Hud- son, where he ereeted extensive green-houses, that he might indulge his taste for the culture of flowers and horticultural pursuits. He married Mrs. Harriet Carrigan.

Milton, a graduate of Yale, a licentiate in law, for many years occupying a position in the United States Internal Revenue Service, superintendent of schools in Westchester County, N. Y., and faithful to every trust. He married Julia Montgomery Wells, daughter of Albert Wells (the honored principal of Peekskill Military Academy for more than thirty years), a woman richly endowed with accomplishments of heart and mind. They have a family of four children.

The daughters of John W. Frost were Harriet, Ann and Armenia, of whom the first only is living, and of them it is praise enough to say, that they have proved worthy seions of a worthy ancestry.

Seldom does it fall to the happy lot of parents to see every member of their large family pursuing lives that reflect lustre upon the family name. Seldom do children enjoy the blessing, iu so eminent a degree, of a parentage so worthy of imitation, so much an honor and a moral support to them in life. Not far from the railroad station of Croton is the manufactory of brick machinery of W. E. Talleot & Co., established in 1879, and employing an average of five hands.

On the top of the hill is the district school, a two- story brick building, in which (in 1883) the average number of pupils in attendance, daily, was seventy-two and the number of teachers employed two.

The house of Miss Susan McCord, a short distance south of the school-honse, on the opposite side of the street, was formerly an inn and the stopping-place of the New York and Albany stages.

North of the village is locatel Hessian Hill, so called from the fact that a Hessian encampment was lo- cated there in Revolutionary times.

"ULMENHEIM."

GIRLS' BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL, CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N. Y.

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CORTLANDT.

The Croton Military Institute is a large building in the southern part of the village. The number of stu- dents in 1884 was twenty-eight. Frank S. Roberts has been principal since September, 1880. Hle is as- sisted by a corps of five teachers. The institute has a classical course of four years, which educates schol- ars for college, a " liberal course " of four years fur- nishing instruction in the English branches, the nat- ural sciences, etc., and a commercial course of one year.

There are in the village five churches,-two Meth- odist Episcopal (one unused), one Protestant Episco- pal, one of the Society of Friends and one Catholic. Their histories are appended.

Methodist Episcopal Church.1-The history of Meth- odism at Croton and its neighborhood dates back beyond one hundred years. The oldl Van Cortlandt manor-house, at the mouth of the Croton River, was long a stopping place for the early Methodist preach- ers, where they were treated with generous hospitality. Among the visitors at this house were the Rev. George Whitefield (who preached from the veranda), Bishop Asbury and Freeboru Garretson.

More than a century ago Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt gave land for a meeting-house and ceme- tery. No deed was given, however, until 1831, when General Philip Van Cortlandt, his son and successor, gave a written title for the property to the Methodist Society. About the year 1780 a church building was erected on this ground, upon a commanding eminence. which afforded a magnificent view of the Hudson. The old church yet stands. There are no means of determining who were the carly officials of the society, as no records can be found.

A uew and handsome brick edifice was erected for a place of worship, upon a location nearer the eentre of the village, and dedicated in 1883. The old church is still standing.

The number of members (1884) is seventy-five. The board of trustees are Augustus Dyckman, Thomas J. Acker, M.D., William Emeny, Nathaniel Tuttle and C. B. Byington, M.D. The present pastor is the Rev. S. F. White.

The Society of Friends at Croton have had an organ- ization and a place of worship for a long time. The lot of one and one-half aeres, in which the building is situated, was purchased from John Conklin the eleventh mouth and eighth day of the year 1797, by Robert Underhill, Joseph Wheeler, Jesse Fields and Henry Matthews, as trustees of the society, for the sum of twenty-two pounds ten shillings, and the meeting- house was, doubtless, erected but a short time after- wards. Robert Underhill and Phebe Fields were the first ministers. At one time the society was so numer- ons that the meeting-house had to be enlarged. The same building is still occupied. In the rear of it is a grave-yard about one acre in extent.

The church has a seating capacity for about one hundred and twenty-five persous. The number of members in 1844 was twenty-five, and three other persons belonging to another meeting attended regu- larly. Meetings are held twice a week, on the Lord's day and Thursday mornings. The Croton Society attend the monthly meeting at Yorktown.

The Church of St. Augustine2-Episcopal services were held at Croton in 1756, by the Rev. James Wet- more, a missionary at Rye, of the Society for the Pro- pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In 1761 services were performed by the Rev. Ebenezer Dib- blee, a missionary of the society at Stamford, Conn. In 1763 the Rev. Mr. Punderson, another missionary of the society, stationed at Rye, held a service at Cro- ton. There is no record of further ministrations by Episcopal clergymen in the village until 1842, in which year the Rev. Charles H. Halsey officiated oc- easionally. About the year 1847 some services were held by the Rev. Edward Bowens. In the summer of 1852 more constant services were performed by the Rev. John Henry Hopkins, and in the autumn of the same year, the Rev. Minot M. Wells received a reg- ular appointment as missionary at Croton. In 1853 the Rev. A. Vallete Clarkson, of New York City, be- eame minister in charge by appointment of the bishop of the diocese. At first services were held at Croton and Cruger's, in alternation, which continued to be the case until 1858. The organization of the parish at Croton was effected in 1855, under the title of " The Church of St. Augustine." In 1857 the corner-stone of a house of worship was laid, on a lot deeded for the purpose, by Philip (. Van Wyck. The building was completed in October of the same year. In 1868 the northern portion of the parish was separated to be- come the charge of the Rev. Gouveneur Cruger. In 1882 two buildings were erected adjoining the church at Croton to serve as school and class-room. In the same year the church was consecrated. The Rev. A. Vallete Clarkson has remained rector up to thepresent time.

The Church of the Holy Name of Mary3-Forty years ago there were probably not ten Catholics at Croton. Now (1884) there are about two hundred. Mission work in this field was commenced from Verplanck's Point, and for many years religious services were held on Sundays at the residence of Patrick White, the pastor of the church at Verplanck's Point offici- ating.

The Church of the Holy Name of Mary, a neat brick edifice, was built in 1869, and was attended by the clergy of St. Augustine's Church, Sing Sing. They officiated on Sundays, sometimes once and sometimes twice a month.

In July, 1877, the Rev. Patrick McGovern became the first resident priest, by appointment of Cardinal

1 By the pastor, F. S. Wbite.

ii. - 38

2 By the rector, Rov. A Vallete Clarkson.

3 Facts communicated by the Rev. Patrick McGovern, pastor.

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

McCloskey, and since that time mass has been said every Sunday, the sacraments have been administered and religious instruction imparted. A Sunday-school has also been organized.

CROTON POINT is a peninsula which projects about two and one-half miles into the Hudson River, and divides the Tappan Zee on the south from Haverstraw Bay on the north. About the middle, the land is sub- merged to a slight depth, and the space is filled with tall water-plants. A narrow road connects the two portions of the peninsula. The outer portion is tri- angular in shape and is about one and one-fourth miles long, and one-half mile wide in its greatest extent. It contains about two hundred aeres.

At the base of the peninsula, according to tradition, stood the Indian castle or fort of Kitchawan, occupy- ing a position which gave it many advantages in case of attack. It was said to have been erected by the sachem, Croton, to secure himself and his tribe in the possession of these rich fishing and hunting-grounds. The Indian burying-ground was located a short dis- tance cast of the fort. Many weapons of war have been obtained in the vicinity of this fort.

Twelve aeres on the tip of the point were not in- cluded in the purchases made by Robert Underhill, and were afterwards bought by his son, Dr. Richard T. E'nderhill, a practicing physician of New York City, who erected thereon a handsome Italian villa. Upon the death of Robert Underhill the point be- cane the property of his two sons, William A. and Dr. Richard T. Underhill, and on the death of the latter, on February 1, 1871, without children, his possessions, amounting to about eighty-five acres, were purchased by William A. Underhill for one hundred thousand dollars. William Underhill died a few years ago and the whole property now belongs to his estate.

The land belonging to this estate is that portion of the point lying outside of the salt meadows, the neck adjoining the mainland being the property of the Van Cortlandts. Of the two hundred acres which compose the estate, seventy-five are devoted to the cultivation of the grape. There are besides exten- sive apple orchards and hot-houses for the cultivation of roses. The manufacture of bricks was begun on the point by William A. Underhill, in 1837.

There are now two brickyards which make sixty- four thousand Croton front brick per day, and one manufactory of enameled bricks, for tiling, wainscot- ing, etc., erected in 1883. The supply of clay is of the best quality and practically inexhaustible. Shad- fishing also forms an important industry.

On the north or right bank of the Croton River, and not far from Croton Point, stands the ancient manor-house of the Van Cortlandts. It is sheltered from the cold north winds by a wooded hill, faces the south and commands a fine view of the river. At one side of the main entrance is the date of its erection, 1687, and it must, therefore, have been built by Colonel Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first lord of the manor.

It is a frame building with basement and one story and a half, flanked at both sides by wings. From the roof project dormer windows. It contains many fam . ily portraits and souvenirs and autographs of distin- guished men. Many whose names are well known were entertained at this house by its hospitable propri- etors. Among these are found Franklin and the great preacher and evangelist, Whitfield. General Tryon in 1774, was an unexpected visitor. He plied Pierre Van Cortlandt (afterward First Lieutenant-Governor of this State), its then proprietor, with the arguments of self-interest and hope of royal favors if he would only cease his opposition to the arbitrary exactions of the English government. His visit was fruitless of good to the royal cause.1

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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 99

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