USA > New York > Schenectady County > History of the County of Schenectady, N. Y., from 1662 to 1886... > Part 44
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The Elders who have served this church since 1820 are: John Young from 1800 to 1822; James McMillan, 1812, to August 11, 1836; Jas. Ferguson, 1820, to October 2, 1851; William Gordon, Jr., 1820 to 1858; John Robinson, 1820, to March 24, 1833; Jonathan I. Clayton, 1812 to 1837; James Cantley, May 20, 1821, to October 2, 1824; James McMillan, October 16, 1836, to January 26, 1884; William Gifford, October 16, 1836, to August 3, 1863; Samuel McMillan, October 16, 1836, to October, 1862; James McNee, October 16, 1863, to January 7, 1875; James Weast, Jan- uary 4, 1852, to February 4, 1873; William S.
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204
HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
Kelley, January 4, 1852, to September 20, 1855; John Conning, January 4, 1855, to January 20, 1877; James Wingate, January 4, 1852, to Janu- ary 14, 1869; Samuel J. McMillan, September 14, 1866, and took letter; Daniel M. Rogers, Septem - ber 14, 1866, to February, 1874.
The present Elders are: James Turnbull, elected September 14, 1866; Samuel A. Weast, elected September 14, 1866; Hugh H. McMillan, elected June 8, 1876; Walter Bradshaw, elected June 8, 1876.
John A. Bradshaw, organist ; Frank Bradshaw, cornet.
The stone church was built about 1790. The present church was built 1820. Since then it has been enlarged once. The parsonage and church are at the present time in good repair. There is a burying ground connected with and ad- joining the church. The present pastor is the Rev. John J. Henning, from Argyle, Washington County, N. Y., who was duly ordained and in- stalled January 20, 1885. The Rev. T. G. Dar- ling, D. D., of Schenectady, preached the opening discourse, the Rev. Mr. Henning, father of the new pastor, delivered the charge to the pastor, and the Rev. Mr. Johnson, of Mariaville, gave the charge to the congregation. All seems pleasant and promising now to this congregation.
SOME OF THE PROMINENT RESIDENTS OF PRINCETOWN.
Andrew Kelley, store and post-office, Kelley's Station; Duncan Ferguson, one mile southwest of Kelley's Station, farmer; Richard Hunter, near Kelley's Station, farmer; Frederick Springer, one mile north of Kelley's Station, farmer; John Mar- tin, one mile north of Kelley's Station, farmer; Thomas Wingate, one and a half miles north of Kelley's Station, farmer; Solomon Kelley, one mile north of Kelley's Station, farmer; Alexander Gifford, hotel, Gifford's Post-office; Thomas Pas- sage, two miles northwest of Gifford's Post-office, farmer; William Scrafford, near Gifford's Post- office, farmer; Archibald Cullings, one and a half miles north of Gifford's Post-office, farmer; James Gregg, Rynex Corners, farmer; Andrew Gregg, near Rynex Corners, farmer; Calvin Robison, near Rynex Corners, farmer; Romaine Robison, near Rynex Corners, farmer and Supervisor; Thomas Ennis, near Rynex Corners, farmer; James Rynex, near Rynex Corners, farmer and Justice of the Peace; John W. Weast, one and a half miles west of Rynex Corners, farmer and Supervisor; David Houghton, two miles north of Rynex Corners, farmer; Walter Bradshaw, two miles west of Rynex Corners, farmer; Frederick Bradshaw, two miles west of Rynex Corners, farmer; Jonathan Templer, one mile west of Rynex Corners, farmer; Andrew McMillin, two miles west of South Schenectady, farmer; Robert Van Valkenburgh, south of South Schenectady, farmer; Samuel A. Weast, one mile west of South Schenectady, farmer; Alex. Don- nan, northwest part of town, farmer; Alex. Clog- ston, one mile west of Princetown Church; William Lauder, near Mariaville, farmer; John A. Marlette, west part of town, farmer; James Smealie,
northwest part of town, farmer; William Staley, northwest part of town, farmer; Archibald Tin- ning, west part of town, farmer; John Walker, west part of town, farmer; Daniel Darron, south part of town, farmer; John C. Flansburgh, near Princetown Church, farmer; Charles Ostrander, near Rynex Corners, farmer.
DUNCAN FERGUSON represents one of the first families of his town. From old documents in his possession, it appears that his grandfather, John Ferguson, purchased the homestead in 1775 of Richard and George Duncan, once proprietors of the town. This property is located about half a mile southwest of Kelley's Station. The price then paid was ten shillings per acre. He was a native Scotchman, came from Perthshire, and built his first log-cabin on the spot now occupied by the family cemetery. He emigrated about 1773 or 1774. He brought with him his wife and daughter, Jane. James, John, Alexander and Duncan were born in Princetown. John died when young; James located adjoining his father, and there lived until his death, when he was seventy-two years of age; Alexander succeeded to the ownership of the homestead, and died at seventy-five years of age; Duncan married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Gifford, one of the original settlers of South Prince- town, who located on the place of Duncan Fer- guson's present home, and raised a family of eight children, of whom Duncan is the oldest. He was first married to Ann E., daughter of John Bryant, of Fultonville, N. Y. She died in 1874, and Minnie Turnbull, of Rotterdam, became his second wife, and she died in the spring of 1881, leaving one daughter, Leah. The family cemetery before mentioned was furnished by the ancestors, and is one of the best private cemeteries in the country.
JAMES FERGUSON, of Duanesburgh, was son of Captain James Ferguson, who was a son of James, the son of the original Duncan Ferguson. The subject was born in Duanesburgh, June 26, 1848. Captain John Ferguson was twice married, first to Mrs. Eveline Curry, who died leaving three chil- dren, Mary, Helen and Martha, who are all mar- ried and living in the West. For a second wife he married Arvilla Northrup, of the town of Berne, Albany County. Her children were nine in num- ber, James, the subject of this sketch, being the third. He married, December 24, 1874, Miss Helen E., daughter of Elisha Hungerford, of Colesville, N. Y., and they have two sons, Samuel and John. Charles, the first-born, died in 1883, at six years of age.
ANDREW SMEALLIE is one of the representative farmers of Princetown. He was born in that town January 9, 1814. His father, James Smeallie, was a native of Scotland, born April 18, 1786; emi- grated to America 1811. His mother, two brothers, John and Andrew, and a sister, Agnes, followed in 1816. He married Mary, daughter of John Smeallie, October 1, 1812. Andrew is the oldest of their children. Others are: John, born March 3, 1816; William, May 1, 1818; James M., June
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205
THE TOWNSHIP OF PRINCETOWN.
12, 1820; Robert, April 21, 1822; Peter C., June 5, 1824, and died August 21, 1827; Jane, born December 22, 1826. Andrew married Ann E., daughter of Abram Dorn, one of the first settlers of the town, August 21, 1851, and they have had one son, Abram D., born January 21, 1853, who died in Texas April 5, 1884.
JOHN MARLETTE is a prominent and successful farmer. He was born in Schoharie, N. Y., Sep- tember 2, 1802. His father, Giles Marlette, a native of Montgomery County, was son of John Marlette, a Frenchman by birth and a major in the the revolutionary army under General La Fayette. Giles was the youngest but one of six children, and married Rachel, daughter of Garret Newkirk, of Montgomery County. Of their nine children, John Marlette is the oldest. He came to Rotterdam April 21, 1821, and worked for one Pulman in a public house where now is the village of Patterson- ville. He was married in 1824 to Miss Nancy Mc- Master and located on his present home that same year. Rachael (Mrs. L. M. Clements, of Schenec- tady); John A. and William, farmers of Prince- town; and T. Luther, of the mercantile firm of Marlette & Clements, of Pattersonville, are his liv- ing children. Maria, William and Giles are de- ceased. T. Luther, the popular merchant at Pat- tersonville, married Miss Eveline, daughter of Seely and Adeline (Montgomery) Patterson, August 12, 1869, and have one son, Seely.
JOSEPH TINNING, who owns and occupies one of the first located and finest farms in Princetown, is a native of the town of Glen, Montgomery County, and is a son of James and Hannah (Bradt) Tinning. He was born June 18, 1833. He married Ann, daughter of William A. Milmine, of Florida, Montgomery County. She died June 5, 1859, and he was again married to Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas Coulter, of Duanesburgh, by whom he has three sons and three daughters, Bertha, Archi- bald, Mary, Elizabeth, Louis, and William. His father, James Tinning, was a native of Scotland, and emigrated to America from Dumfries County in 1821. He married his wife in the town of Glen. He died March 27, 1868.
GEORGE J. HOLTON is one of the enterprising young farmers of Princetown, and at present the only one of his family in the town. He was born October 27, 1855. His father, George Holton, who died June 5, 1862, married Miss Margaret J., daughter of Nich- olas Peek, who was one of the first Dutch settlers of the Mohawk Valley. George Holton had five children: George J., Sarah L., Hannah, Thomas S. (deceased), and William J. After Mr. Holton's death, Mrs. Holton married Thomas Shipley, by whom she had one daughter, Cora, born March 2, 1881. George J. Holton married Miss Emma J., daughter of Winslow Sterling, of Princetown. She was born February 13, 1860. They have a daugh- ter, Florence, born July 5, 1882, and a son, Mel- vin, born May 20, 1884.
DANIEL TAWS located in Princetown during the days of its very early settlement. He came from Scotland to America some years previous to the
opening of the revolution, and was a soldier of that war. Of his six sons James was the oldest, and mar- ried Jane Mulroy, and settled on the homestead and had two sons, John (deceased) and David, who now occupies the homestead. They had also two daughters, Janet (deceased) and Sarah. The estate now comprises 244 acres.
DAVID ELDER lives in the neighborhood of the Scotch Church, and is a native of Scotland. His father, William Elder, came from Kinrosshire, Scotland, in 1827, bringing with him a family of five sons, leaving a married daughter in Scotland. He located in the town of Florida, Montgomery County. His sons in due course of time entered business life, John as a merchant in New York City and later went to California; Robert became a civil engineer and was employed by the United States Government in the Western States; David developed into a first-class school teacher, follow- ing the profession in Montgomery and Schenectady Counties. He served as School Commissioner of the latter county three years, 1883-85. He mar- ried March 15, 1848, Miss Janet, daughter of Thomas Dougall, by whom he had four children: Margaret, now Mrs. W. W. Barlay, of Des Moines, Iowa; John A. ; Thomas D .; and William J. James Elder, the youngest brother of David, taught school about twenty years in Montgomery County, and is now a farmer in Minnesota.
DANIEL DONNAN was a Scotchman. He emi- grated to America in 1803. Was born in 1776. He married in Princetown, Mary, daughter of John McKerlie, also a Scotchman by birth, who emi- grated in 1774 and reached Princetown in 1775, and purchased of George Wasson the farm in the west part of the town now owned and occupied by William Donnan, a grandson. The estate then comprised one hundred and fifty acres ; the im- provements consisted of a small log house and barn, and a small clearing. During the revolu- tionary war he was an active member of the Home Guards. He had six sons and four daughters: David married Mary McKerlie in 1805. They had seven sons and one daughter ; John was born Octo- ber 15, 1806, and died 1882 ; James lives in Am- sterdam ; Andrew is in Livingston County, N. Y .; Alexander, Samuel and William are in Princetown; and David is in Pennsylvania. William married Catherine, daughter of James Tinning, of Florida, Montgomery County, and has one daughter, Mary, living, and Martha and Owen are deceased. He lives on the old homestead. Alexander located adjoining the homestead; married June 7, 1844, to Miss Jane, daughter of William and Nancy (McKey) Conning. Has had six children: David A. (deceased), William, George, Essit and Nathan W. David is at Independence, Iowa; John A. is a farmer in Princetown; and William, assistant cashier in a banking institution at Leroy, N. Y. Samuel's place also joins the old homestead. He was mar- ried November 7, 1884, to Miss Helen, daugh- ter of Thomas and Margaret Dougall (deceased). They were among the first settlers of Princetown. Their children are William J., a farmer of Duanes-
206
HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
burgh, Margaret A., Edwin C., Rensselaer and Mary N. Mrs. Donnan died July 31, 1884.
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JAMES BRADSHAW was the founder of the family in this county. He was a native of Derbyshire. England. Born September 25, 1743. Emigrated to America in 1775 with his wife, Elizabeth Bul- lock, who was born in the same county August 23, 1743. They first located in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, N. Y., and in 1777 removed to Prince- town, at what was known as Curry's Bush, and located five hundred acres of land, a part of which was in Princetown and a part in Duanesburgh. He erected a large stone house about half a mile west of the present house of Walter Bradshaw, of Princetown. Of their ten children, three were born in England: John, June 14, 1769; Helen, February 12, 1771, who married Thomas Wasson and lo- cated in Princetown; Elizabeth, January 6, 1773, married John Barlow and located in Montgomery County. James was born on the voyage to Amer- ica, March 17, 1775. George was the fifth of the family, born in Princetown, November 10, 1776 ; Thomas, September 28, 1778; Robert, July 11, 1780; Benjamin, March 11, 1782 ; Mary, March 19, 1784, married Charles Tullock, of Duanes- burgh; Joseph, November 18, 1786. James, the fourth of this generation, married Delana Briggs, born in Rhode Island, June 20, 1776 They had nine children : Charlotte, born March 12, 1804, and married Henry Pulver; Samuel, born October 8, 1805 ; George, September 3, 1807; Martha M., December 31, 1809, married John M. Quick, of Rotterdam ; Ruth, February 27, 1812, and married James Mulach and located in Jackson County, Mich .; Walter B., August 20, 1814, and died at twelve years of age; Ann, born March 17, 1817, mar-
ried Samuel Wingate and located in Duanesburgh; James W., July 22, 1820; Helen, October 22, 1822, and died at seven years of age. The venerable Samuel Bradshaw, formerly of Princetown, now living in Schoharie County, is in his seventy-ninth year ; Mrs. Ann Wingate, of New York City; and Mrs. Elizabeth Mallench, are the only ones of this generation now living. Samuel B. Bradshaw mar- ried Sarah Kelley and they had three children, the first of whom died in infancy. Walter B. was the second, born January 8, 1837; he has been twice married, first to Maria, daughter of James Allen, of Rotterdam, March 5, 1857; she died December 17, 1857, leaving a son and daughter : Allen and Maria (twins) ; the latter died when two years old. In 1863, Allen married Miss Hannah F., daughter of James B. Bradshaw, who was born August 25, 1842, by whom he has one daughter, Lorena. Allen, his oldest son, married Emma, daughter of Benjamin Wiltsie, June 26, 1879; their children are Edith, Walter B. and Clarence W. Solomon K. Bradshaw married Maria, daughter of James B. Bradshaw, and has one son, Samuel, who lives in the house of his birth in Rotterdam.
We take pleasure in making mention of the fol- lowing well-known citizens, who by their guaran- teed support have helped to insure the publication of this valuable work :
Walter Bradshaw, A. B. Cullings, Wm. Don- nan, Samuel Donnan, Alex. . Donnan, Daniel Darrow, David Elder, Duncan Ferguson, George J. Holton, Andrew Kelly, John Marlette, Charles Ostrander, J. K. Rhinehart, Romaine Robin- son, Andrew Smeallie, Joseph Tinning, David Taws.
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ROTTERDAM.
By Rev. E. E. TAYLOR.
ROTTERDAM was formed from Schenectady, April 14, 1820, and was formerly the third ward. Another part of the city was annexed in 1853, and a part taken from the town and added to the city in 1865. The town contains 24, 422} acres. Population in 1880, 2, 326. It lies near the center of the county, upon the south bank of the Mohawk. The surface consists of a broken, hilly region in the northwest, a level intervale extending from the center towards the south, and a high plain in the east. A part of the soil upon the west hills is a tough clay, underlaid by shale, which frequently crops out. The central valley or plain, five miles in extent, was called by the Dutch the "Bouw- lands," or farm-lands, The soil is a deep alluvial. The east plateau is sandy and has formerly been regarded as barren, but of late years has shown its adaptation for orchards and especially for small fruits.
Among the early settlers were Wilhelmus Van Otto, -Van Curazoa (a native of the Island of Curacao), Ryer Schermerhorn and Simon Veeder. The house of Van Otto stood on the site of the one afterward occupied by Simon Veeder. At the time of the revolution there were families living by the names of Delamont, Van Pelton, and Braugham.
SOME OF THE OLD LANDMARKS.
Arent Bradt, born 1684, built the ancient brick house now standing southwest of the first lock above the city, about 1730. Arent was a full cousin of Captain Arent Andreas Bradt. He married Catrina, daughter of Jan Pieterse Mabee ; she died in 1773, aged eighty-two years two months and seventeen days.
The Van Guysling farm, situated on the bouw- lands in Rotterdam, and occupied by the Van
207
THE TOWNSHIP OF ROTTERDAM.
Guyslings as early as 1664, remained in that family until 1865, when Cornelius Van Guysling died without issue. The Van Guysling house is a wood- en structure and is a remarkable specimen of early Dutch architecture. It is the oldest house in the valley, unless the Mabee House out-dates it.
A part of one of the buildings at the Schermer- horn Mills, near Schenectady, dates about 1715 to 1720.
The Mabee House. [A description and cut of this ancient building is given in a previous chapter. ]
Johannes Peek's house, built in 1711, and now occupied by D. D. Schermerhorn, is situated a little south of the junction of the Boston and Hoosac Tunnel and West Shore Railroad.
Harman Albertse Vedder is the ancestor of all the Vedders in this county. He settled in Sche- nectady in 1663. His farm covered what is now known as the homestead of Col. D. D. Campbell.
ROTTERDAM FLATS.
In the summer of 1661, Arent Van Curler, or Corlear, leader of the first settlement, made formal application to Governor Stuyvesant for permission to settle upon the Great Flats lying west of Schenectady.
The bouwlands, the great tract of bottom land west of Schenectady, embracing several hundred acres of arable land, was anciently called the Groote Vlachte. It was mainly cleared land when the white man first occupied it in 1662, and had been the Mohawk's maize land for, perhaps, centuries. This, and other parcels of like soil along the Mohawk, formed the main inducement for the Hollanders to settle here ; in them they recognized the polders, or lowland of the Father- land.
The bouwlands were originally divided into twenty-three separate parcels and assigned to fifteen individuals.
Broom corn was first introduced into this town by the Shakers of Watervliet and Niskayuna, and has been extensively cultivated upon the alluvial flats and is still one of the most extensive products of the soil.
Mr. Martin De Forrest, of Schenectady, now seventy-two years old, says he well remembers that, sixty years ago, the first piece of broom corn planted in Rotterdam was on a morgen of land, or 2.0076 acres, near the city of Schenectady, by the Shakers from Watervliet. It attracted much attention and its peculiar adaptation to this alluvial soil soon brought it into general cultivation. Mr. Sanders Van Eps, then an extensive farmer in Rotterdam, was one of the first to raise it in large quantities and to manufacture it into brooms.
REMARKABLE FEAT.
It is said that Ryer Schermerhorn, the father of Bartholomew and grandson of the first Ryer, was a man of remarkable perseverance, energy and determination. An illustration cannot be out of place at this point. It is handed down by well
established authority, that shortly after the termi- nation of the revolutionary war, when the long contested suit of Ryer Schermerhorn against the Trustees of the Schenectady Patent was pending in our Supreme Court, Ryer Schermerhorn, the plain- tiff, was unexpectedly informed, by his counsel, Judge James Duane, that certain documents then in the hands of one Apple, at New York, must be in court at Albany within eight days from that time, or his cause would be greatly endangered. Bear in mind there were no telegraphs, no steam- boats, no stage routes; but miserable roads, only a weekly mail, and that the sloops took generally two weeks, sometimes three, to accomplish the distance between Albany and New York. Nothing daunted, Schermerhorn started, single-handed, in a canoe from Albany ; went to New York, procured the necessary documents, and on the morning of the first session of court, much to the surprise and gratification of his counsel, delivered him the desired papers. This certainly would be called something of a feat for a young man of the present day. *
THE ERIE CANAL.
The Erie Canal by three locks runs eight miles through this town along the line of the Mohawk.
The Erie Canal was first completed as far as Lockport, twenty-six miles from Lake Erie, and soon after to Lake Erie. Mr. Peter Christler (an ex-Canal Collector) in the Schenectady Union, January 18, 1885, gives the following table as to the development of the canal:
YEARS. DEPTH OF WATER.
BOAT TONNAGE.
1824. 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 16 to 40
1836.
3 ft. to 3 ft. 6 in. 30 “ 40
1846.
5 ft.
40 " 70
1856.
6 ft.
Co " 120
1862.
6 ft.
to 9 ft. 150 " 220
1883.
7 ft.
250
Time from Buffalo to Albany has with little vari- ation averaged about eight days. Average cargo at the present time is 160 tons.
In 1884 there was carried over the canal 5, 666, - 057 tons. It was through this avenue, when other ways were closed during the late war, that the Government conveyed to the Western army a great amount of their supplies in addition to what the railroads could do, and in this service the canal was taxed to its utmost capacity. It is estimated that at this time there were from 8,000 to 10,000 boats on the canal.
RAILROADS.
The New York Central, with a four-track road, runs about four miles in this town, coming in at the east and going out at the City of Schenectady, where it crosses over into Glenville and follows the Mohawk westerly.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Branch Rail- road, from Schenectady to Quaker Street, with a single track, runs seven miles in the town.
The West Shore, with two tracks, runs twelve miles in the town and was built in 1883.
* Sanders' "Early History of Schenectady."
208
HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
The Athens branch, from Schenectady to Athens, built in 1868, was sold to the West Shore.
The Creeks of this town are the Zantzee, Plata, Poentics and the Normanskill.
The Mohawk River runs along the northern boundary for ten miles. About one mile above the city is what has from the first been known as the Sixth Flat's rift.
The Schermerhorn Flouring Mill is situated near the city on the Plank road. This mill seat has been occupied here for more than a century and a half. Garret Veeder, second son of Simon Val- kertse Veeder, the fourth named original pro- prietor of Schenectady, owned the lands about the mill seat, and obtained a lease from the church of Schenectady of this mill privilege about 1718, which afterward became the Schermerhorn Mill Farm. This mill is one of the best in the county, and is highly prized by the town of Rotterdam.
Ryer Schermerhorn, during the revolution, built the stone house opposite the grist-mill about 1770, and the purpose was entertained at one time of taking it for a fort.
There was a log house near the mill that was used for a place of retreat in times of peril, and the name of "Schuylenburgh" was given to the place, it signifying in Dutch the shelter or a place of safety.
SOUTH SCHENECTADY.
South Schenectady came into being by the building of the West Shore Railroad in 1883, which connected with and crossed the Delaware and Hudson River Railroad two miles southwest of Schenectady. South Schenectady has now a large hotel called the Thompson House, built and kept by William H. Fogerty. Its capacity for boarders is quite large and it is well filled. The West Shore Railroad has here a large round-house, freight-house and depot. There are within half a mile twenty dwellings; a grocery; a store and post-office, kept by Andrew Kelley & Son; a blacksmith shop; the butcher's shop of Allen Estes; H. Herrick's watch-making and repairing shop; a large hay barn for storage of hay in transit, located beside the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, owned by Smith Close & Alfred Ford, who also have in connection with their business a coal yard. James Turnbull is also erecting a hay barn, and has also opened a coal yard near the track of the West Shore Railroad.
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