USA > New York > Ulster County > Marlborough > History of the town of Marlborough, Ulster County, New York, from its earliest discovery > Part 4
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I find a field book and map of partition made of a tract of land situate in the Town of Marlborough, County of Ulster, the property of the children of Wilhelmus DuBois, deceased, in May 1810: 612 acres. including a lot containing 11% acres, knownas the Meeting-house lot, and is designated on the map as Lot A, and also another lot containing 112 acres distinguished on said map as the Reservation lot,
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
to L. DuBois, which said lots are excepted and reserved out of said lands intended to be divided. The commissioners were Isaac LeFevre, Nehemiah L. Smith and John Wood, the last two of this town and were sworn before William Soper, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The commis- sioners divided the lands in two allotments, the west- ern and eastern allotments; the western into 4 lots.
1st lot, John W. Wygant 145 aeres
2nd " John Dubois 143 9/10 66
3rd " Cornelius Dubois 143 4/10 66
4th " Nathaniel Dubois 148 4/10
The eastern allotment were village and town lots and water lots.
1st, alloted to Nathaniel Dubois, water lot No. 1, 39/10 acres.
And village lots 1, 2 and 3, each containing one acre and extending along Main street as said village or town lots were laid out in 1764.
2nd, alloted to John Dubois, water lot No. ? containing 37/10 acres.
And village lots 6, 7 and 8 extending along Main street, each lot containing one acre as the same were butted and bounded in the year 1:64 when the same were laid out.
3rd, alloted to Cornelius Dubois, water lot No. 3 containing 3 7/10 acres.
And Lot B of village and town lots on Main street contain- ing one acre, also lots 4 and 5 of said village along Main street, each one acre, as same were laid out in 1764.
4th allotted to John W. Wygant, water lot No. 4 containing 4 3/10 acres.
Also C and D of village lots, C lot containing 12/10 aeres along Main street. D Lot containing one acre along Main street.
I see that by this map and survey there was a stone marked "M.B.Y. 1764", set in the ground in the south-west corner of the Meeting-house lot. It ap- pears from these proceedings that in 1764, a village
47
PATENTS AND LAND GRANTS.
was laid out and lots surveyed and described and numbered and a map made, but I am unable to find it. This map of 1810 gives only the lots that were set off in the distribution at that time, but refers to the map and survey of 1764.
I had never heard of it before, and do not think any- one of this generation ever knew that our ancestors were so ambitious, that they should at the early date of 1764 lay out and prepare for a future village; it would seem that they chose the most available place for a town, and had an idea that a town would there be built; they were liberal in the size of the lots, an acre or more to the lot, but settlers did not arrive as soon as they expected ; there were soon rumors of war, and in 1775, war was declared with the mother country, and for the next eight or ten years, the desolating hardships of war impoverished all the people and improvements were at a standstill. For many years after the war, the increase in population was slow, and the adjoining towns of Newburgh and Pougli- keepsie by their energy and inducements obtained the larger share of the settlers coming from abroad.
Archibald Kennedy conveyed his tract of 1,200 acres to Lewis Gomez; and Mordecai, Daniel and David Gomez as executors of their father, Lewis Gomez, in 1748, conveyed the same to William Camp- bell and Archibald Duffie, and on March 28, 1750 Camp- bell and Duffie of Ulster county conveyed the same to Francis Purdy and George Merritt.
On the 14th day of August, 1754, Francis Purdy conveyed 606 acres in two lots-484.5 acres west of the road and 121.5 acres east of the road, along the north side and adjoining the Griggs and Graham patent; the balance was conveyed by Merritt to Purdy. The partition and division of these lands had been submitted to Alexander Colden and Samuel
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
Decker. On the 18th day of March, 1751, they made their award in writing, dividing the property as above. Colden also surveyed the lands and made a map of the same which is attached to the deed; and Cadwal- lader Colden as one of His Majesty's Council took the proof or acknowledgment of the deed. It was sealed and delivered in the presence of Alexander Colden and Henry Cropsey. This deed is in the possession of John C. Merritt, the great-great-grandson of George Merritt and is a great curiosity in its way, but owing to its great length it cannot be given liere, only re- ferred to as follows:
"AND WHEREAS by the Award made in Writting Indented under the hands and Seals of the said Alexander Colden and Samuel Denton bearing Date the Eighteenth Day of March last past the said George Merrit is to Have and Hold Seventy two Acres more than his one full and Equall half part of the aforesaid Tract or Parcell of Land as by the said in part re- cited Award relation being thereunto had may more fully and at Large appear. Now THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH That for a Partition and Devission of the said herein before men- tioned and Described Tract or Parcell of Land It is Covenanted Granted Concluded and Agreed upon by and between the said Francis Purdy and George Merrit That the Creek or run of Water commonly called and known by the Name of the Saw Mill Creek from where the Highway Crosses said Creek shall be the Partition or Devission of that part of the herein before Described Tract or parcell of Land lying between said High- way and Hudson's River. The benefit of the Stream from said Highway to said River to be and remain in Common And that a line of marked trees running West from a Stone Set upon the West side of said Highway at the Distance of two Chains and two rods measured on a Streight line Northerly from a bridge laid over said Saw Mill Creek Shall be the Devission and Partition of That part of the above mentioned Tract or parcell of Land lying on the West Side of said Highway which said Creek from Hudson's River to said Highway, the Highway from the said Creek to said Stone, and the line of marked trees from said Stone as Deliniated in the Draft or Map hereunto Annexed is and shall remain the Partition and Devission of the above mentioned Tract of Land between them the said
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PATENTS AND LAND GRANTS.
Francis Purdy and George Merrit their Heirs and AAssigns. forever "
And in the conveyance by Merrit to Purdy of the south part of the tract or the land south of the dividing line reservation is made as follows: "(excepting and reserving to the said George Merrit his heirs and Assigns forever the priviledge of a good and Sufficient Cart road from the Highway aforesaid to the Landing at the Limekiln Also the free use of said Land- ing and of the Lime Kiln and whatever Stone he and they may want for burning of Lime with liberty to Dig up and Cart the same to the Kiln)."
And it was further provided :
" That either of the said Parties or the Heirs and Assigns. of either of them may at any time Erect a Mill or Mills on any part of said Creek between said Highway and Hudson's River on that Side of the said Creek next adjoining to his or their own Lot And may Also Dam across said Creek and Join the Dam or Dams to the Land of the other of said Parties and take to him or themselves sole benefit and Profit of such Mill or Mills without any Let hindrance trouble Denial or Interrup-
tion of the other of said Parties his heirs or Assigns."
*
*
*
From this transfer, it will be seen, that there was a landing and limekilns at the river at that time; the landing was most likely built by Lewis Gomez or his sons, and if so it was very old, if not the oldest in the town. The lime burnt at the kiln supplied all that part of the country at the time.
From this Lewis Gomez' Jew's creek derives its name; and the lands which Gomez owned then were sometimes assessed to "Mr. Gomez," and at other times to " Gomez the Jew." This creek ran through Gomez' land. These limekilns and the landing were on what is now known as the Kerr place.
The first. sales in the Lewis Morris' patent were to Henry Lane; he sold in 1753 to Joseph Carpenter, Benjamin Stanton, John Caverly and John Latting a tract of land of several hundred acres, (600 or 800). Euphina Morris sold to Joseph Carpenter in 1753, 677
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
acres; Samuel Kniffin sold to Joseph Carpenter 390 acres ; in 1776 Latting Carpenter sold a farm to Moses Quimby. This was all in the Lattintown valley.
George Harrison sold the first tract of his patent, the 705 acres, to Cadwallader Colden; Colden then sold a part to William Wickham, William B. Woolsey and others. Wickham sold to Thomas Woolsey and William B. Woolsey; William B. Woolsey sold to Caverly, Hait and others. Anyone can easily trace the title to his farm back to the original tract from which it came; and should he have any curiosity in this direction, he can easily trace the boundaries of the original patents or land grants.
Most of the patents appear to have been subdivided into farms between 1740 and 1780, and the patentees were succeeded by actual settlers, those energetic pioneers of this region- the Carpenters, Woolseys, DuBoises, Harcourts, Smiths, Hallocks, Purdys, Cav- erlys, Daytons, Merritts, Wygants, Fowlers, Younges. Quimbys, Mackeys, Woods, Lewises, Martins, Quicks, Lesters, Sands, Kniffins, and others, whose descend- ants in many cases still own and occupy much of the same lands. The lands were very rough and hard to clear but few districts promised more certain re- turns for labor. The land was rich in vegetable mould and produced large crops. It was heavily timbered, especially suited to ship building, and New York city furnished a convenient market for all kinds of wood for building and for fuel. Coal was not used then. Numerous sloops and sailing vessels of all kinds af- forded easy and cheap transportation.
CHAPTER III.
INDIANS.
There is no doubt that this town was inhabited by Indians of different tribes long prior to and at the time of the first white settlements, though we cannot trace any forts or council chambers as having been located here. The nearest was just over the line at what has always been called the Dans Kammer. This was a noted place for the Indians to meet, hold coun- cils, and have war dances on all important occasions, and was very ancient.
When Hendrick Hudson first sailed up the river, Indians came aboard his ship here and traded skins for knives and trifles.
Dans Kammer is next referred to in David Pieter- zen de Vires' Journal. He sailed up the river in 1640; arrived off the Dans Kammer about sunset on the 26th of April and cast anchor. During the evening, he states, a party of riotous savages assembled there " who threatened trouble," and that "the sloop's company . stood well on their guard." On his return (May 15), he tells us that he saw many Indians " fish- ing from the rocks at the Dans Kammer." And in the Second Esopus War, Lieut. Couwenhoven and some friendly chiefs went to the Dans Kammer, which then appeared to be the headquarters of the Esopus tribe, to secure the release of prisoners taken by the Indians.
Couwenhoven remained with his sloop off the Dans Kammer for several days; and on the 17th of August, 1663, he sent a message to Kregier informing him that the Indians had collected about four hundred men. and were preparing to renew their attack on Esopus; that they also daily threatened him " in an insuffer-
[51]
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
able manner;" that he hourly expected the arrival of the Sachems who had already been gone " four days about the captive Christians, and should know the issue of his mission;" that "the Indians who lay there about on the river side made a great uproar every night, firing guns, ete."
De Lacet, a navigator, who sailed up the river in 1624, and gave a detailed description of the country, makes no mention of this place, but it isn't likely that the Indians congregated here all the time-as I under- stand it, it was only at certain periods, and because De Lacet did not mention this place, it is no reason that the Indians did not have their ceremonies here at the time. It is quite likely that the Indians had used this spot a long time, perhaps hundreds of years before that, and they congregated here up to the time that they sold their lands, from the Paltz' Patent to Murderer's Creek, to Governor Dongan in 1684, which included these lands.
They never had any permanent residence here; no village or fortified place. It is not known that they planted the lands. This was a great place to fish, and the Indians came from long distances back in the coun- try on both sides of the river, and carried away many fish. They came here from time to time to have their ceremonies, remaining for several days and sometimes for weeks, but made no permanent abode. The place was used by the Tappans, Harverstraws, Esopus, Wappingers and other tribes. They appear to have met here at their ceremonies in a friendly spirit. There is no tradition or record that they had wars or battles here-it was one spot where they could meet in peace. No reason can be found for their gather- ings unless it was to fish or hold their rites and cere- monies.
There has never been any Indian name for the place. The early Dutch navigators who sailed up the
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INDIANS.
river over two centuries ago, gave it the name " De Duyfel's Dans Kammer" (the Devil's Dance cham- ber), and it has ever since been known by the name of Dan's Kammer. This name is applied to the point of land at the northwest part of Newburgh hay. It was a level piece of land about a half-acre separated from the mainland by a marshy tract over which water flowed at times. This was called "The Little Dans Kammer." Across from this, and on a platean, lands formerly owned by the Armstrongs, was a tract called the " Large Dans Kammer," which occupied several acres. These are so called in the original deeds and are spoken of in patents and land grants. A paper describing the natives of New Netherland, written in 1671 says:
" At these meetings conjurors act a wonderful part. These tumble, with strange contortions, head over heels; beat them- selves, leap with a hideous noise through and around a large fire. Finally they all raise a tremendous caterwauling, when the devil appears ( they say) in the shape of a ravenous or harmless animal - the first betokens something bad. the second something good."
The Indians held these meetings prior to starting on expeditions of hunting, fishing, or war, to ascertain whether they would be successful or not. They were certain religious rites, and were in the nature of an appeal to the God or Gods they pretended to worship.
It may be that they held festivals and feasts here. and met as social gatherings, and held intercourse with other tribes, upon questions of war, peace or otherwise. The name is to be found in many docu- ments and papers of those times, and must have been considered a matter of some importance by both whites and Indians. There were Indian trails extend- ing a long way in various directions to this place. There was one trail through the Lattintown valley back to the Shawangunk creek and beyond; there was
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
also a trail following up the Quassaick creek, and from the Delaware river by way of Murder's creek. They came there from up and down the river in their canoes, and sometimes large numbers of canoes were seen there. The Indians had a fort called Willmet in what is now Rosendale or Marbletown; a fort at what is now Kingston, and one on the Mombackus, now Wall- kill; one at what is now Brunswick in Shawangunk, one at the Vernoy and Rondout Kill, Warwarsing and one at Bloomburgh. All these are spoken of in the history of the first and second Esopus Wars, when Wiltwyck, now Kingston, and New Dorp, now Hurley, were sacked and burned by the Indians, and many people not only killed but many carried into captivity.
There was also a fort at Quassaick near what is now Newburgh, and one near what is now Fishkill village. They all were originally called the Waranawankongs, but after the settlement here of the whites, they were known by the tribal names of the Esopus, Warwar- sings, Wappingers, Minnesinks, Quaissacks and other names. These Indians were apparently of the same clan, and to some extent, at first, assisted the Esopus Indians in their war on the settlers, and afterward appear to have been instrumental in negotiating peace ; especially was this the case with the Wappin- gers who obtained the release of many captives taken in the Esopus wars. Small clans or bands of these Indians lived and had villages here, though in times of war they generally repaired to the fortified places. They had their fields of corn, pumpkins, beans, etc., on what is now the Lattintown flats, and on the level lands about where the Rose Brick Co. own lands north of Milton. The hillocks which they cultivated every year were easily discernable by the first settlers.
There was an old Indian burying ground about one mile north of the present Mary Powell landing, at the
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INDIANS.
top of the hill alongside a small stream which runs into the river, where the Smith mills stood in olden times. This was left undisturbed. The first settlers about there commenced a graveyard on the west of and adjoining the Indian graves. This graveyard is known as the Smith graveyard. Indian relies such as flint, arrows, and spear heads, stone axes and clubs or pestles for crushing their corn or for defence, are found about the town; a gentleman at Milton has a fine collection of the same-most of them picked up on his farm. Many rocks show cavities where they cooked their food.
There has always been a tradition that some of the early settlers intermarried with the Indians. A trail could once be followed from the back country where the Indians came to the river to fish, etc., but the bravery and spirit of the Indians had departed before people settled here. The wars which they had waged with the whites at Wiltwyck had subdued, disheart- ened and decimated their numbers. Many had fled to the protection of the Five Nations and the remnant were always quiet and peaceable, became somewhat civilized and lived and died here. There is no knowl- edge or tradition that they ever committed any depre- dation or troubled any one, or that any took part with the English army against the Colonies.
I find in the description of an ancient road that it passed " along by the Indian orchard;" and in an- other description it reads "opposite the land of Captain John Woolsey, adjoining a little west of his blockhouse," which would infer that it was a security from the Indians.
Several Indians remained here and became citi- zens, and two or three generations since several fami- lies could be named who had Indian blood in their veins. There were many traditions about the Indians
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
but I cannot authenticate them, so do not attempt to relate them.
Sometime about 1845, Samuel A. Barrett wrote and published a beautiful poem about the Indians, which was founded on traditions and stories told to him when a child by his grandfather. It is a beautiful piece of literature, and is here produced as a fitting conclusion to this article.
MAINTONOMAH.
PART FIRST.
They waste us; ay. like April snow In the warm noon, we shrink away; And fast they follow, as we go, Towards the setting day. Till they shall fill the land, and we Are driven into the western sea .- Bryant.
T.
The forest legends of our land. Tho' wild and sad, have yet a charm : Traced by Tradition's faithful hand.
They seem with Truth's own fervor warm ; For, blended with reality. They take the hne of history,
And, handed down from age to age.
Live long on memory's mystic page. Sneh legends I have listen'd to, In boyhood's hour, with keen delight : And still, before my mental view, They rise as vividly and bright,
As when I heard my grandsire tell The self-same stories, years ago :-- God rest his aged ashes well, Now sleeping in the valley low ! When he was young, the forest men Were moving toward the setting sun ; Like lions hunted to their den, Still loth to own the battle won.
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INDIANS.
He was no warrior :- vet would dwell On fearful scenes with much delight, When he could hear the savage yell Burst through the silent gloom of night. He often spoke of Anne's war, And of the lovely Horican,* Where Quebec's hero, from afar. Disgraced humanity and man ! He knew of many Sachems great. Who famous were in days of yore; He loved their stories to relate, And would rehearse them o'er and o'er. When night her sable curtain drew. And wintry winds swept thro' the vale, And snow-clouds o'er the mountains flew, He told to me this simple tale. But first he said, as he drew nigh The genial hearth-fire. blazing high -
" Remember. - many a weary day On The's swift wing hath passed away,-
Ay, half a century has gone, Since I, myself, the story heard ; Therefore do not expect, my son, That I can give thee word for word."
II.
`Twas pensive twilight : and the sun had set Behind the woody hillocks of the west ; No sound was heard, save where a rivulet Rushed thro' a grotto to the Hudson's breast. The husbandmen had to their homes retired ; The beasts were slumbering on the verdant mead; One only torch a cabin window fir'd,- And through the gloom a feeble lustre shed. The moon arose, and with her borrow'd light Threw silvery brightness o'er a silent world ; The stars appeared, to gild the brow of Night, And transient meteors thro' the air were hurl'd. Then came a man from out the forest shade, And knelt beside a grass-grown sepulchre ; His solemn manner, and his voice, betrayed At once his object and his character.
*Horican - Lake George - the Indian name.
Quebec's hero. Louis De St. Veran, or the Marquis of Montcalm. Alluding to the massacre at Fort Henry, 1757.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
III.
"Ghost of my father!" cried the chief, "I come, to bathe thy tomb with grief ; From great Manitto's peaceful throne, Look down and bless thy only son. Full sixty summers have passed by, Since white-men heard thy battle-ery, And quailed beneath thy blow ; Thou wast the foremost in the fight, To wing the arrow in its flight. And strike the hated foe!" I heard :- and curiosity O'ercame unmanly fear. And, stepping lightly o'er the lea. I, unperceived, drew near. His form was bending to the ground, His eyes were streaming fast, He muttered an unearthly sound, Such as might seem his last. An Indian's ear is never dumb, Except it be in death ! An Indian's bow is ne'er unstrung. With arrows in his sheath.
I trode as lightly o'er the grass. And as elastic, too, As in the gloomy wilderness, The prowling panthers do:
But, as I drew still nearer by, He suddenly arose, And east on me a piercing eve, Still moisten'd with his woes. I stretched my hand high in the air - He caught the peaceful sign. And straight returned it, standing there Beneath the fair moonshine.
IV.
"Son of a Pale-face! fear me not - I come in peace "- he said, " To see the hill, the stream, the grot. The hallow'd mound and holy spot, Where Maintonomah's laid.
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INDIANS.
My head is white with many years. Mine eyes are dimm'd by many tears, My sinews nerveless grow ; My tomahawk is buried deep. Beyond the mountains high and steep, Where Erie's waters flow : And I have hither come to shed My last tears on my father's head."
V.
"A weary distance thou hast come, Poor Heathen! from thy forest home. To visit this lone mound," I said - and touched it with my foot :- Swift as a bolt from heaven shot, And with a voice of thunder sound. He threw his hand against my breast ! And sternly said - " Pale-face ! desist - This is my father's grave ! By every tie that drew me here. By all things that I hold most dear. And by Manitto's self. I swear No insult shall it have, While I have nerve to face a foe. Or strength to draw a steady bow ! Like all of thy accursed race, Thou hast no reverence for the dead. But wouldst profane their resting-place With reckless word and careless tread ! Not so the red-men - every mound That hides their dead, is holy ground : And sacred as the memory Of those who 'neath them lowly lie! Didst call me poor? Yes. I am poor, Since cursed white-men fill the land, Where lived the native chiefs of yore, And warriors rose at their command ! The very soil on which you tread Has been the nurse of Indian bread : These rugged hills around you high. Have echoed to onr battle-ery : Or rung with mirth, their leafy bowers, When happiness and peace were ours.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
That river, glittering like dew, Beneath the moonbeams mild. Full often bore the light canoe, When Teton was a child ! And dost thou think I can forget The scene of all my joy, When fortune smiled, and I was yet A happy Indian boy? Or dost thou think this hallow'd spot. My father's grave, is worship'd not? Or e'er can be by me forgot ? No! the Great Spirit bade me come And weep upon this mound, Ere I can see the red-man's home, The Happy Hunting-ground !"
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