USA > New York > Orange County > New Windsor > History of the town of New Windsor, Orange County, N.Y. > Part 14
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
Joseph Young (2), the second son of John and Mary Young, was born in Little Britain, Feb. 7, 1733. He also studied medicine, prin- cipally with Doctor Alex. Clinton, and after his death, with his brother, Doctor Thomas Young. When his brother removed to Boston in 1765, he remained in Albany in private practice until early in 1776, when he was appointed by order of Gen'l Montgomery to establish and superin- tend a hospital there for the reception of the sick of the northern army, in which charge he remained, with only temporary interruption, until May 4, 1784, when the establishment was broken up. He then removed to and practiced in New York until the fall of 1797. In 1762 he mar- ried Sarah, daughter of Samuel Brown, of Colchester, Conn. She died in Albany in 1768, without issue.
John (3) and Jane (5), children of John and Mary Young, died in childhood.
Mary (6) married Samuel King, and had Mary, who married Doc- tor Strong; Thomas, who married Cornelia Tracy; John, who married Eliza Godfrey; Samuel, who married Nancy Montagnie; Anna, who married Nicholas King; Sarah, who married Isaac Mills; Mary, who married David Godfrey; and Rhoda, who married Elijah Tucker.
Barbara (7) married Matthew Neely, son of Robert Neely (who married Isabella, sister to Adam Graham), of Montgomery. She died soon after the birth of her only child, Barbara Amelia (born Dec. 19, 1775), who married Thomas Hertell .*
Isaac (4) married Esther Wolcott in the state of Rhode Island. She died after having a son, William, and three daughters, one of whom, Sarah, married Cornelius Tiebout, an eminent copper engraver of Phila- delphia. Isaac married, second, Susanna Ross, of Fayette county, Pa., by whom he had seven children : Robert, Nancy, Isaac, Effy, Nelly, Joseph and Jane, who all removed to Kentucky except Isaac, who re- mained in partnership with his half-brother, William, at or near Union- town, Pa. Isaac, their father, visited New York in the summer of 1795, where he died of yellow fever and was buried in Potter's Field.
The history of the family, if not of special mention in local records, is eminently so in that of one of its sons, Dr. Thomas Young, the com- patriot of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Dr. Warren, of New Eng- land, in resisting the efforts of the British ministry to tax the colonies.
*Christian Hertell was the principal factor in the firm of Christian Hertell and company, of the New Windsor Glass Works, in 1752 Thomas Hertell was Mem- ber of the Assembly from New York from 1833 to 1840.
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MC CLAUGHRY.
The McClaughry family, of Little Britain, were of the company of immigrants with Charles Clinton in 1729, and at one time among the most numerous and influential in that district. The name has now, however, entirely disappeared there, and descendants can only be im- perfectly traced in lateral connections. In his journal of the voyage of the colony which accompanied him, Clinton writes: "Matthew Mc- Claughry, his wife and two of his family, went on shore at Glenarm, May 24th, and quit their voyage." Inferentially a portion of his family remained on board. Subsequently Clinton records in his list of deaths at sea the names of Margaret McClaughry, Joseph McClaughry, and Mat- thew McClaughry, who were probably children of Mary McClaughry and grandchildren of Matthew. Be this as it may, Mary McClaughry, widow, and her children, accompanied Clinton to Little Britain and made purchase from Andrew Johnston and John Parker, Aug. 2, 1730, of one hundred and twenty acres of the Johnston patent, on which she located with her family, of whom Patrick McClaughry appears on the militia roll in 1738, as the first male representative of the line in local records. Later Colonel James McClaughry was a well-known resident of the district. Jane McClaughry married James McCobb, of Mont- gomery in 1758, and Sarah McClaughry married Alexander Trimble, of Montgomery in 1754; but the exact relation which they held to each other and to the widowed Mary can not be definitely stated. She was probably the daughter of the widow, Mary, whose husband would, from the same standpoint, seem to have been William. There is a tradition that Colonel James was the son of a brother to the husband of widow McClaughry, and that his father and mother died on the voyage, or soon after ; but of this there is no record. The family can only be treated in the relation of branches from Matthew, of Ireland, who "quit their vovage."
"Patrick McClaughry," writes Joseph Burnet, Esq., "married Mary, daughter of John Reid, and sister of the wife of Robert Burnet, He settled on the Johnston patent, near the Little Britain church, on the farm lately owned by Colonel James Denniston, his grandson. He owned the land the Little Britain church stands on, and deeded the same to the congregation in 1765.
He had three or four daughters and two sons. One daughter, Mary, married Col. Geo. Denniston (1762), who lived on and owned his father- in-law's place after the death of the latter. Another daughter, Eliza- beth, married John Finley (1766), who settled on Hume's patent, on
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the road leading from Little Britain to the Coldenham church. Her grand-children, Samuel and James B. Finley, now own and occupy the place. Catherine (Katy), another daughter, had quite a romantic history. At the time the continental army was encamped near the square, she was coming into womanhood, sprightly and good-look. ing. She attended the balls and other social gatherings of the army officers, and among the number that she became acquainted with was Captain Stephen Potter, of one of the Connecticut regiments, who fell desperately in love with her and they were married. After the army disbanded, the captain, if he did not desert his colors, did his young bride, and left her on her father's hands. She had one child by this
marriage, a girl named Mary (Polly). Herself and daughter lived together in Montgomery, and, after Capt. Potter's death, she applied for and received a widow's pension. She died near Bloomingburgh,
in 1840, over 80 years of age. Patrick McClaughry had another daughter, I believe. She married George Nicholson, of Montgomery, and, after his death, a Mr. Smith, of Bloomingburgh. Of his sons,
John married a widow Budd. He lived on part of his father's farm for some years, but ultimately sold out and went to the west, where he died .* His second son, James, died unmarried at the residence of his sister, Mrs. Finley." Patrick McClaughry was a carpenter, and one of the first, if not the first, of that trade in his neighborhood. The old Little Britain church was erected by him. He became one of the first elders of the church, and served in that capacity with honor. He was the oldest son of Mary McClaughry.
James McClaughry, known as Colonel McClaughry, was born in Ireland in 1723, died at Little Britain, August 18, 1790. He married, first, (June 22, 1749), Catherine, daughter of Col. Charles Clinton. She died in Little Britain in 1762, without issue, and he married, sec- ond (1763), Agnes, daughter of John Humphrey, who also died with- out issue, April 11, 1808, in her 65th year. His farm was a part of the Low patent and adjoined the farm of Charles Clinton on the south. He was a man of considerable activity and prominence in the neigh- borhood.
Under the law of August 22d, 1775, organizing the militia of the Revolution, James McClaughry was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the second Ulster regiment, under command of his brother-in-law,
*John was an ensign in James Stewart's company in DuBoise's N. Y. regi- ment; commissioned Nov. 21, 1776; taken prisoner at Fort Montgomery, Oct. 6, 1777; promoted lieutenant July 1, 1780. He probably retired from the army be- fore the revolution closed, as his name does not appear in the list of half-pay of- ficers for life.
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Colonel James Clinton. The transfer of the latter to the command of the third New York regiment in the expedition against Canada, and subsequently to other positions in the Continental service, left the power of command of the regiment to him, and it was under him that the regiment took part in the defence of Fort Clinton, where he was wound- ed and taken prisoner. In reference to at least a portion of his ser- vice on that occasion, Gov. Clinton wrote in his report of the action : "I immediately sent lieutenant Jackson with a small party to discover the movements of the enemy; but they had not moved more than two miles on the Haverstraw road, when they were attacked by a part of the enemy, who had formed an ambuscade at a place called Doodletown. They immediately retreated, after returning the fire. As soon as the firing was heard, I detached Lieutenant-Colonel Bruyn with fifty con- tinental troops, and as many militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Mc- Claughry, to sustain Lieutenant Jackson, the garrison being at that time so weak that we could not afford them greater aid on that road. The detachment under Colonel Bruyn and McClaughry were soon engaged, but, being too weak to withstand the enemy's great force, retreated to Fort Clinton, disputing the ground, inch by inch. Their gallant op- position, and the roughness of the ground, checked the progress of the enemy for sometime." The manner in which McClaughry was taken prisoner in the action is related by Dr. Young, in his "Recollections," written in 1807: "When the nenemy rushed into the redoubts, Col. Mc - Claughry and a Mr. James Humphreys, the lock of whose gun had been shot off, turned back to back and defended themselves desperately. They were assailed on all sides and would undoubtedly have been killed, but a British member of Parliament, who witnessed this spirit and bravery, exclaimed that it would be a pity to kill such brave men. They then rushed on and seized them." During his captivity Colonel Mc- Claughry was confined in a hospital in New York, where he was joined by his wife, Agnes, who made that provision for his comfort which his captors denied. Most of the prisoners were soon exchanged or pa- rolled ; but McClaughry saw and suffered quite sufficiently to deepen and broaden his hatred for the English. In his last will he manumitted all his negro servants, except two females, who were retained for his wife, and in addition to manumission gave them oxen, farming imple- ments, etc., and from £180 to £200 each .*
*Two of his male slaves bore the names of Thomas McClaughry and William McClaughry. They located themselves in the town of Wallkill, as did also Lou- don, one of their companions. Mr. Eager, in his "Orange County," says they set- tled at a place called Honey Pot but this is denied on equally good authority. The name is still met in several colored families in this district, who are ranked as the "better class-generally thrifty and well-to-do."
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Jane McClaughry, probably daughter of widow Mary McClaughry, married James McCobb, of Montgomery, in 1758. She has descend- ants through her daughter, Mary (Polly), who married George, son of Alexander Trimble and his wife Sarah McClaughry; and through her second husband, Col. John Nicholson, by whom she had one son, who became the heir to the Nicholson farm at Neelytown.
Sarah McClaughry, born April 7, 1735; married Alexander Trim- ble, April 11, 1754; died June 10, 1773. Their children: I. Isabel, born Jan. 15, 1753, married Peter Hill; 2, John, born July 25, 1757; 3. George, born Feb. 5, 1760, married Mary McClaughry; 4, William, born April 12, 1763; 5, Jane, born Nov. 25, 1765, died April 25, 1797, married Rev. Andrew King, of Goodwill church, Montgomery, by whom she had several children, two of whom arrived at maturity, viz: James and Andrew. The former became a lawyer and settled in Albany, where he died June 20, 1841, aged 53 years, the latter was a physician and married first, Eliza, daughter of Hamilton Morrison and his wife, Lydia Beemer, of the Town of Montgomery; they had two children, Ruth S., who died at Ocean Grove, N. J., unmarried, eighty-three years of age, and William L., who resided in New York and married Catha- line Moffatt-they had two children, Imogene M. and Angela. Dr. King's second wife was Eliza Hornbeck, daughter of Dr. H. W. Horn- beck, of Scotchtown, by whom he had three children, Henry H., Gil- bert and Mary E .- all of whom married, had children, and resided in New York. Late in life he removed to Nashville, Tenn, where he died ; 6, Alexander, born July 17, 1767; 7, Elizabeth, born May I. 1770, mar- ried Samuel Hunter ; 8, Sarah, born April 7, 1773, married Rev. David Comfort.
Elizabeth McClaughry has the following record on monument in Goodwill cemetery: "In memory of Elizabeth, daughter of William and Mary McClaughry, who departed this life May 31st, 1818, aged 79 years." She was probably the daughter of the widow, Mary, whose husband would, from the same standpoint, seem to have been William.
SAMUEL SLY.
One of the most substantial of the early settlers of New Windsor was Samuel Sly, who purchased, 10th of June, 1757, from William Young and Elizabeth, his wife, a portion of the Hume patent. In the deed he is described as a resident of the precinct of the Highlands, which, the reader is aware, included the present town of New Windsor, and it is altogether probable that he lived in the Little Britain neighbor-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
hood for some time prior to the purchase. His wife was Letitia, daugh- ter of William Hamilton, one of the Clinton company of immigrants. The farm which he purchased is still, or was recently, in possession of his descendants. His wife, Letitia, died Sept. 16, 1776, in her 56th year and he died Sept. 4, 1786, in his 76th year. Their children were: I, Samuel; 2, John; 3, William; 4, Elizabeth; 5, Mary; 6, Catharine. The three daughters married three brothers of the surname of Cross. Samuel Sly was one of the committee of safety of the town of New Windsor in 1775.
I. Samuel, married Margaret McMichael, of a Little Britain family in 1738. Their children were: I, George; 2, Mary (married James Strachan) ; 3, Letitia (married Robert Cunningham) ; 4, Nancy ; 5, Lilly. He was in service in Malcom's regiment in the war of the Revo- lution.
2. John, married Margaret Simpson, and lived and died on a por- tion of the original homestead bequeathed to him by his father. Their children were: I, Letitia (Mrs. Robert Carlisle) ; 2, Catharine (Mrs. John Milliken) ; 3, Janet; 4, John ; 5, Hamilton ; 6, Robert; 7, William. Robert (6) was a member of the legislature in 1836 and again in 1841. John (4) was in military service in the war of 1812. William E. Sly, a grandson, was in the Civil War.
3. William was in service in Livingston's regiment in the War of the Revolution. He occupied that portion of the homestead bequeathed to him by his father, and it is still held by his descendants .* He was born February 14, 1760; died November 17, 1834. He married Ann Gouldsberry Barber, daughter of Arthur Barber. She was born Decem- ber 23d, 1758; died August 11th, 1825. Their children were: I. Charles Hamilton; 2. Arthur Barber ; 3. Maria Gouldsberry.
I. Charles Hamilton, born May 14, 1792; died August 7, 1875, in his 84th year. Married, first, Susan Haines, daughter of Samuel Haines, of Montgomery, by whom he had one daughter, Susan H., married Franklin Mulliner. His second wife (Oct. 4, 1825) was Sarah John - ston, sister of the Rev. John Johnston of Newburgh .** Their children. aside from two sons who died young, were: Jane Ann and Catharine Johnston (Mrs. Charles Woodruff).
2. Arthur Barber married Catharine Johnston, sister of Rev. John
*See Recollections by Hon. Edward MacGrau.
** Rev. John Johnston was the son of John Johnston and Jane Moncriff, his wife, who emigrated from Ireland, in 1774, and settled in the present town of Crawford, Orange County. He was for forty-seven years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, of Newburgh, where he died, Aug. 23d, 1855.
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Johnston. One daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, survived them. He died September 3d, 1841.
3. Maria Gouldsberry married Joseph Dill. Their children were: J. William S .; 2. Henry ; 3. David ; 4. Ann Eliza ; 5. Maria.
Charles Hamilton Sly was a second lieutenant tinder Capt Alexander C. Burnet in the War of 1812, and a captain in the 14th regiment, 34th brigade of the militia in 1823, afterwards ranking as major. For fifty- one years he was one of the trustees of Goodwill Church, although never a professor of religion.
JOHN WELLING.
John Welling came from Long Island prior to the Revolution. He married Mary, daughter of Peter Mullinder, by whom he had eight children-Peter, William, John, Frederick, Isabella, Anna, Sarah and Mary. Isabella married Alexander Beattie; Mary married Matthew DuBois, Jr .; Anna died young; Sarah married Isaac DuBois .* His farm, or part of it, is now owned by his grandsons, Peter and George Welling. It was orignally purchased from the patentees by John Young.
FALLS FAMILY.
Alexander Falls, the progenitor of the Falls family of New Windsor, was a native of Ireland, from where he emigrated, it is said, with the Clinton company in 1729. However this may be, his name appears on the military roll of Capt. Ellison's New Windsor company in 1738. about which time he is said to have settled on the Hume patent. Hic farm was afterwards owned by John Findley and his heirs. He died in 1755. He had children: 1, Alexander, Jr. ; 2, Samuel : 3. Edward ; 4, George; 5. Elizabeth, who married Buchanan : 6. Mary.
*Isaac, David, James and Matthew Dubois, were the sons of Matthew Dubois who was of the fourth generation of the first Louis Dubois, one of the Huguenot settlers of New Paltz. Matthew, Jr., was engaged in commercial business in the village of New Windsor; was a petitioner for a ferry franchise there in 1762 and during the Revolution was an assistant commissary. He lived neighbor to Robert Burnet, in Little Britain, but subsequently removed to Newburgh, where he engaged in the manufacture of tobacco and where he died in 1799, in his 75th year. (Hist. of of Newburgh) His wife. Mary Welling, died Sept. 21, 1799. His daughter, Mary W., in 1829, Ann M., died Sept. 17, 1828; and his son, David M., died in 1855 aged 77 years. David and James (brothers of Matthew, Jr.,) were engaged in the war the of Revolution, the former as lieutenant in Col. James Clinton's regiment in the ex- pedition against Canada in 1775, from whichthe returned with impaired health and died soon after, and the latter under Gen'l McDougal in the battle of Monmouth. Eager'sOrange Co.)
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I. Alexander, Jr., married Easther He died about Oc- tober, 1773, without children-at least none are named in his will on file in Albany, dated July 27, 1773-probated October 16, 1773.
2. Samuel, married Mary Denton. They had Elizabeth, Alexander and Samuel. He was wounded and taken prisoner in service in the militia at Fort Montgomery, October 6, 1777, as was also a brother whose name has not been ascertained. He died of wounds while in prison in the old Sugar House, New York, January 30, 1778. He was a member of Col. James McCaughrey's regiment.
3. Edward, born 1745, died January 21, 1776, from injuries acci- dentally received in his saw mill. (See Eager's Orange Co., correcting the name "Alex." to "Edward"). He was the 2d Lieutenant in Col. McClaughrey's New Windsor regiment, commissioned in 1775. He married Catharine, daughter of Alexander Denniston (1). They had sons Alexander and George, and daughters Esther and Frances, as named in his will, January 16, 1776, of whom I. Alexander was a merchant in Newburgh, and the father, (by his first wife), of William H., George, Edward, Hiram and Alexander Falls, all of whom were engaged in mercantile pursuits in Newburgh. William H. was a member of the firm of Reeve & Falls; subsequently removed to New York, where he was for many years president of the Tradesmans Bank. George and Edward died unmarried. Hiram married Deborah, daughter of Capt. Charles Birdsall. He served as an apprentice to his uncle, Hiram Wood. as a wagonmaker; was subsequently in the crockery trade, and, a few years prior to his death, was associated with Charles Johnston in the forwarding business. He left no children. Alexander married Sarah. daughter of John Leyard. After conducting mercantile business in Newburgh, he removed to Columbia, S. C., where he died without issue. William H. left two sons and two daughters. Alexander, his father, was thrice married. His third wife, Fanny Belknap, died at Philadel- phia, Pa., December Ist, 1877, aged 92 years and 6 months. She was buried at Goodwill Church in Montgomery. As appears by his will Edward Falls, his grandfather, was an "innholder" at the time of his death in the house now known as the "Headquarters of General George Clinton," after the fall of the forts in the Highlands, October, 1777. His widow married Samuel Wood and continued the inn, which became known as the "Wood's House." Later the house became the home of Samuel Brewster Moores, a descendant of Deacon Samuel Brewster of New Windsor.
4. George, married (1760) Rachel, youngest daughter of Peter Mulliner, an early settler on the Hume or Hermitage patent. They
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
lived on the Square, on a farm lately owned by Samuel Moore. He died sometime about 1770, leaving, it is said, two children, William and Isabella, of whom William only is mentioned in the will of his brother Alexander, Jr. His widow, Rachel Mulliner, married James Denniston, October, 1773. His son William, married Elsie Davis, by whom he had five children : 1. George; 2. Rachel, married James Roberts ; 3. Isabella, married David Scott and had descendant in Little Britain ; 4. Jane, mar- ried Obadiah Beatty; 5. James, removed to the South when a young inan, and died there.
5. Elizabeth, married Robert Buchanan and had Alexander, James. Arthur, George, Jane, Isabella and Elizabeth, as named in the will of her brother, Alexander Falls, Jr.
6. Mary, married Hiram Wood.
The facts stated are from a memorandum of the late Wm. E. Warren of Newburgh, brother-in-law of Hiram Falls, and from wills of Alex- ander, Jr. and Edward Falls on file at Albany.
THE CLINTON FAMILY.
The Clintons, of New Windsor, occupy so conspicuous a position in the annals of the State of New York, and in standard historical and biographical literature, that an extended notice, in a work of the charac- ter of this volume, would be superogatory. Nevertheless it is due to a town whose history is so intimately associated with that of the family that more than a passing reference should be made to them.
It will be generally understood that two branches of the Clintons are represented in the history of the state, and that their relationship was very remote. The first was that of the colonial governor, George Clinton, the youngest son of Francis, sixth Earl of Lincoln, who was governor of the province from 1743 to 1753, when he returned to Eng- land. He was the father of Sir Henry Clinton, who was in command of the English army in America during a part of the Revolution. The second and more honored branch of the family in this country, were the descendants of William Clinton, grandson of Henry Clinton 2d, Earl of Lincoln, an adherent to the fortunes of royalty in the civil wars of Eng. land, and an officer in the army of Charles I. On the fall of the King whose cause he had espoused and whom he had served with marked de- votion,* he fled to the continent to escape the fury of Cromwell's army,
*His coat of arms and its motto, "Loyaulte n'ahonte," illustrates his devotion and his position. His bearings are thus described: Argont-six crosses crosslet fitchee, sa. three, three, two, one; on a chief az. two mullets or pierced gules, Crest-out of a ducal coronet gu. a plume of five ostrich feathers ar. banded with
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and remained for several years in France and Spain. On his return he settled in Scotland, where he married a lady of the family of Kennedy. He was soon compelled to seek personal safety in Ireland, where he died leaving an orphan son, James, then about two years of age, and a daughter, Margaret .* On attaining his majority, James visited Eng .. land for the purpose of recovering the estates of his father but, being barred by the limitation of an act of Parliament, returned to Ireland, af- ter marrying Elizabeth Smith, daughter of a captain Wm. Smith of Crom- well's army. He afterwards became an officer in the English army, and was granted, for his military services, a valuable estate in the county of Longford. He died January 14, 1717, and his wife December 5, 1728, leaving a son, Charles and two daughters, Christian and Mary. Charles married Elizabeth Denniston, and soon after united with the "dis- senters" and opposed the ruling party in Ireland. It will be remem . bered that after the Irish Revolution, in 1689, and the accession of the house of Hanover, Ireland was treated as a conquered province. Clin - ton with others of his faith fell under the law of religious and political proscription, and led him to the determination to remove to America. Having leased his estate for ninety-nine years to Lord Granard, and succeeded in enlisting a company of his friends and neighbors to ac- company him, * he sailed from Dublin on the 20th day of May, 1729, with the intention of debarking at Philadelphia. It soon became apparent that a fortunate selection had not been made in the ship, the "George and Anne," or her commander. The vessel was slow and the voyage exceedingly long and tedious, to which was added the breaking out of a fatal type of measles and a failure in the supply of provisions. Some ninety persons, heads of families and children, fell victims to the disease and the absence of proper food, the track of the ship was marked with bodies of the dead. Under the circumstances the passengers were anxious to reach land at any point favorable for debarkation, and the captain was induced for a consideration to change his course with that object in view. On the 4th of October, after a voyage of five months,
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