USA > New York > Orange County > New Windsor > History of the town of New Windsor, Orange County, N.Y. > Part 4
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Although the commerce of the place was continued with more or less activity until the death of Thomas Ellison (2d) in 1830, and of Abra- ham Schultz, in 1835, its decadence, as well as that of the village, began at about the commencement of the century. At that time its population was nearly equal to that of Newburgh, although the latter had a much larger acreage .* Contributing to its decline and ultimate discontinuance were several causes, among which may be mentioned the active rivalry of the village of Newburgh, the advantages which its property holders offered to settlers, the superiority of the river front for commercial pur- poses, and the efforts of the people generally of that place to improve their trade by the construction of turnpike roads. An examination of the maps of that period will show that prior to the opening of the New- burgh and Cochecton turnpike, New Windsor had the advantage in roads and in the lines of communication between the eastern and western parts of the county, as well as in what would now be termed the through travel between the eastern states and the west. The construction of the Co- checton turnpike and its western connections changed all this, and chang- ed it so seriously that the old ferry from New Windsor was discon- tinued in 1812, and most of the mechanical and trading population of the place removed to Newburgh. Its fatal misfortune, however, was in the previous folly of its landowners, who made the rivalry of con- temporary communities possible. The river front, capable as it was and
* Population, 1782-New Windsor, 1,132; Newburgh, 1,487. 1790-New Wind-
sor, 1,819; Newburgh, 2,365. 1800-New Windsor, 2,001 ; Newburgh, 3.258. 1810-New Windsor, 2,331; Newburgh, 4,627. 1820-New Windsor, 2,425; New- burgh, 5,812. 1855-New Windsor, 2,554; Newburgh, 12,773.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
:as it still is, of improvement, was held by one or two individuals, who were thereby enabled to control the destiny of the entire community. They had the trade, they had the roads, they had the wealth, why should they permit competition or encourage development? They did not ; they chained up the river front with paper deed, denied accommodation to competing business, and dried up the springs of action which impel communities to undertakings in which mutual prosperity is involved. From their presence enterprise and the enterprising fled away. True it is now as true it was when Goldsmith penned it-
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth occumulates, and men decay."
Beyond the product of brick, for the manufacture of which there are six establishments, the village of New Windsor has now no com- mercial business except that which finds it way by the Erie road and the Newburgh barges. The prosperous city which, under proper develop- ment, might have resulted from its founding, remains a city "neither perfected or inchoate."
General Business .- The early business men of the village, aside from those engaged in freighting, have very imperfect record. Capt. Jonathan Lawrence kept store there in 1776. Abraham Van Deursen "opened a house of entertainment, at the sign of the Confederation," in 1782. Sub- sequently removed to Newburgh, where his daughter married Joseph Hoffman. William Scudder* opened a land office in July, 1793. Ben- jamin S. Hoyt, "practitioner of physic and surgery," sold medicines in 1798. Matthew C. Lyon was a physician prior to that time; he died in 1798. Richard Edgerton sold dry goods and groceries, and carried on the shoe-making business. Sanford & Fitch sold dry goods, iron mong- ery, crockery, etc. Isaac Schultz & Son, dry goods, groceries and gen- eral merchandise; William Ward carried on the silversmith business "a few rods south of the ferry." The advertisements of these gentlemen appear in the New Windsor Gasette, a weekly newspaper, the publica- tion of which was commenced by Jacob Schultz, Nov. 10, 1797 .* It is presumed that all branches of business common to the times were prose- cuted there with more or less success down to the commencement of the present century.
New Windsor Ferry .- All traditions agree that at the village of New Windsor a ferry was maintained to Fishkill at a very early period.
* This paper was continued until 1799, when it was removed to Newburgh and its title changed to Orange County Gazette. David Denniston subsequently pur- chased it .- Hist. Newburgh, 346.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
There is no evidence, however, of a chartered privilege there, as at New- burgh. In 1742, April 12, Joseph Sackett, Jr., of New York, represent- ing himself as "seized in fee of and in a small piece of land at a place called New Windsor, in the county of Ulster, lying on the west side of Hudson's river and contiguous thereto, between the land of John Alsop on the north and of Thomas Ellison on the south," petitioned for a "grant of the sole liberty of having a ferry, at any convenient place within the distance of five miles on each side of his said land, with priv- ilege of landing on the opposite shore."* In the minutes of the pro- ceedings of the Proprietors of New Windsor, Feb. 12, 1755, it is writ- ten: "A letter was directed to be sent to Vincent Matthews, asking him to prepare a petition to his Honor the Lieut. Governor, for a char- ter for a public ferry for the benefit of the proprietors of the said town- ship of New Windsor." A still later petition is on file at Albany, dated Nov. 23d, 1762, signed by Matthew DuBois, Jr., praying "a grant of the exclusive right of ferriage, on the east side of Hudson's river, for the distance of one hundred and sixty chains (two miles) to the south- ward of an east line across the said river from the north side of Quas- saick creek, for the purpose of establishing a ferry across said river."
There is no record that any of these petitions were granted, or that that referred to in the minutes of the petitioners was even presented, but that there was an established ferry there is certain. Morgan and his famed rifle corps passed over the river on its boats in July, 1775, on their march to join Washington at Boston. At that time it was owned by Martin Wiltsie of Fishkill and Daniel Carpenter of New Windsor, and ran from what was long known as the Lower Landing at Fishkill (more recently Lomas' brickyard) to New Windsor, or to Newburgh, if required by passengers. It is said that it was a chartered ferry, but if so the grant is not recorded .** Its history is more or less connected with that of the Colden or Newburgh ferry and of the Continental ferry. The former was chartered in 1743, and gave to Colden the exclusive right to convey passengers from Newburgh to Fishkill, but conveyed no ferriage right from Fishkill; the latter was established by authority of the Quartermaster General of the Continental army for communica- tion between the encampment at Fishkill and Newburgh. It ran from the Upper Landing at Fishkill to the foot of Third street at Newburgh. It was discontinued in 1782. Whether the boats which it employed were
* Land Papers, Vol. XIII, 117.
** The absence from the record of grants of this character is not conclusive evidence that no charters were issued, as it is known that all grants are not to be found on file at Albany.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
taken from the Colden ferry or otherwise supplied does not appear, but its discontinuance was the occasion of the establishment, by Peter Bo- gardus, of Fishkill, and John Anderson and James Denton, of New- burgh, of a new ferry, which was announced by advertisement as "a private ferry at Fishkill and Newburgh Landings, where the public ferry was formerly kept"-i. e. from the Upper Landing at Fishkill to the foot of Third street, Newburgh. Wiltsie and Carpenter replied to this advertisement that its language implied that their ferry "was no more," whereas, on the contrary, their ferry "being opposite to New Windsor," was "the most convenient for travelers," and added: "We have furnish- ed ourselves with excellent new Peltyangers for the purpose. We have now larger scows building with great expedition, for transporting load- ed wagons. All such as chuse to cross at this ferry can do so at the prices set forth underneath, which are as cheap as at other ferries. For a footman, one shilling ; man and horse, two shillings ; two horse wagon, nine shillings ; loaded do, twelve shillings ; riding chair, six shillings ; four horse wagon, fourteen shillings; loaded do, one pound; phaeton and pair, twelve shillings; ton of iron, eight shillings ; hogshead of rum, five shillings."*
The Wiltsie and Carpenter ferry was consolidated with the New- burgh Ferry in 1805-a fate, it may be remarked, which some years later overtook the Bogardus and Anderson ferry, as well as the ferry which was subsequently established by John Peter DeWint, from the Fishkill long wharf to the foot of Fourth street at Newburgh .** Prior to its consolidation with the Newburgh ferry, however, Abraham Schultz established a ferry from New Windsor to Fishkill, announcing, in 1800, that he had "provided a complete new ferry boat" which would "ply con- tinually between New Windsor and Fishkill Landing," and that he in- tended "to pay particular attention to the business." It is said that this ferry was discontinued in 1812, but this is presumed to be an error. No ferry has been maintained, however, for a number of years.
Mr. William H. Bartley, who spent a half century of his life in boat- ing on the Hudson, states that his brother, Jacob Bartley, was in the em- ploy of Wiltse and Carpenter for a number of years as their ferryman at New Windsor, sailing a pirogue from the dock immediately north of the Schultz dock to the Lower Fishkill Landing. On the Fishkill side
* Fishkill Packett, July 18, 1782.
** The existence of so many ferries between Newburgh and Fishkill is per- haps contrary to the generally received opinion that the exclusive grant to Colden in 1743 was valid forever. No attempt was ever made to test the force of the Colden charter against any of the rival ferries, although the latter were in com- petition with it for over forty years.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
the ferryman was Crom. Wiltse, a slave owned by Martin Wiltse, who also sailed a pirogue .* These vessels, and two or more row-boats, con- stituted the ferry appointments. At the landing on the Fishkill side, Wiltse had a large store-house and other accommodations, and sailed from thence to New York a line of sloops. The store-house was burned some years ago. The boats landed passengers at Newburgh whenever it was desired; indeed a very considerable traffic was carried on be- tween Newburgh and Fishkill.
Famous Buildings .- The headquarters of Washington at the old Thomas Ellison house, immediately south of the bounds of the old vil- lage, is referred to in another place. Aside from this there are no other buildings historically remarkable except that known as the birth-place of DeWitt Clinton. Notwithstanding all that has been written to the contrary, we have little doubt that he was born here, and not in Deerpark or in Little Britain. Charles Clinton, of Little Britain, who was the clerk of the "proprietors," erected in the village a house, barn, etc., sometime about 1760. He transferred his clerkship to his son, James, the father of DeWitt, in 1762, and in 1773, sold and transferred to him the property. James married Mary DeWitt, of Deerpark, and her first child, Alexander, was born there in 1765. In the spring of 1766, he com- menced "housekeeping" in his house in New Windsor village, and there his son Charles was born in 1767, and his son Dewitt, in 1769. After the death of his father in 1773, James removed to the homestead in Little Britain, and remained there during the Revolution. The only question at issue we believe to be whether James resided in New Windsor village, and that is apparently settled by letters from his father, dated at Little Britain and addressed to Capt. James Clinton at New Windsor, covering the date of DeWitt's birth, and by the facts stated in regard to the house and the business in which James was engaged. During the Revolution the house was occupied, at least a part of the time, as a hospital. It stands on the west side of the road near the foot of New Windsor hill, and although it has been repaired and changed somewhat, has still the original frame work of its first construction.
Presbyterian Church and Cemetery .- The only church in the village -the New Windsor Presbyterian church-was organized Sept. 14, 1764. Its history is given elsewhere. Attached to it is a cemetery, in which repose the remains of many of the early residents, not only of the village but of the surrounding district.
* A periauger was the old Spanish pirogue which found its way to the Hudson with the Dutch. It was pointed at both ends, had two masts, but no bowsprit. When horses and carriages were to be loaded they were detached and lifted into the boat or driven over wide gang-planks.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
CHAPTER IV.
LITTLE BRITAIN.
The boundaries of the district known as Little Britain have never been very accurately defined. Not unlike ancient New Windsor, which is said to have extended twenty miles on the Hudson, when it was but little more than two, it has been written that Little Britain embraced the entire country bounded east by the village of New Windsor, west by Montgomery, north by Newburgh, and south by Blooming-Grove. incluid- ing part of the latter, as well as of Montgomery and Hamptonburgh as now constituted. These traditional boundaries are not without proba- bility, if they are considered as representing the radius of the settlements more or less intimately associated with those made on the patent to Andrew Johnston, but the latter must be accepted as not only the center of the district, but the seat of the name. This patent lies west of the Little Britain church. The main road, leading from New Windsor to Goshen, runs nearly through the center of it. Beginning at the church, it extends west to the road that leads to the farm now owned by James Getty (opposite the residence of Joseph B. Burnet). On the south it is bounded by the south lines of the farm late of John S. Bull, and the farm now owned by Peter and George Welling. The north lines of the farms late of Joseph H. Howell, Jarvis Knap, and the heirs of John R. Scott, form its north boundary. It is one hundred chains in width and two hundred chains in length, and is supposed to contain two thousand acres. Its north and south lines now run about north twenty-two degrees east. * The patentee ran a division line through the center of the patient, north and south and sold it in lots or farms to different persons.
The first purchaser and settler on the patent was John Humphrey, who located on the north part west of the division line, on the farm late of Joseph H. Howell, in the year 1724. The next purchaser was Peter Mullinder (as the name was then spelled) in 1729, whose farm-lot of 250 acres adjoined Humphrey on the south. Mullinder was an English- man by birth, and is said to have been connected with the nobility of his
* The boundaries of the patent, and many of the points of its history herein stated, have been furnished for this work by Joseph B. Burnet, Esq., an accurate surveyor and for many years supervisor of the town.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
native country. He came to New York as an attache of Gov. Cornbury .. With warm affection for his birth-place he named his settlement Little Britain, and from him and his farm the title was accepted, and extended not only to the patent, but to the district. It will be admitted, of course,. that the honor of conferring the name has been given to Charles Clin- ton; but without authority; on the contrary, Clinton was the last man who had regard for Britain in any of its aspects. He was of Irish birth and an exile, and had he had a name to bestow would not have selected one so suggestive of many of his misfortunes. It may be added here, that the habit of ascribing credit to Clinton to the sacrifice of his neigh- bors and of truth, has been altogether too common. He was an excel- lent citizen, perhaps of better education than his contemporaries, and certainly more eminent than any of them through his descendants, but it is yet to be ascertained that he contributed more than his share to plant- ing and development of Little Britain. But this digression anticipates. Robert Burnet purchased 200 acres of the patent in 1729; his farm ad- joined that of Peter Mullinder. John Reid, the father-in-law of Bur- net, purchased a farm-lot at the same time. Charles Clinton, Mrs. Mc- Claughry, Alexander Denniston, and John Young were next in order of settlement in 1731, and they found at that time the neighborhood and the name of Little Britain.
Whence came the name of Little Britain, and what was Mullinder's traditional connection with the nobility? Perhaps both questions are answered by saying that he was probably a native of London and a resi- dent at birth or subsequently of Little Britain, or Bretagne street, in that city. Of this street Washington Irving wrote:
"Little Britain, or Bretagne Street, was so called on account of the ancient residence of the dukes of Bretagne. The earls and dukes of Bretagne, who were English subjects, were Alan the Red, earl of Bretagne, who married Constance, daughter of William I. His son, Alan the Black, Stephen, his brother, who found- ed the abbey of St. Mary, at York. Alan, Conan le Petit, Geoffrey Plantagenet,. fourth son of Henry HI. who married Constance, daughter of Duke Conan; their son was the unfortunate Arthur, Duke of Bretagne, presumptive heir to the crown of England, but prevented by murder, through the means of his uncle, King John. The dukes of Bretagne, afterwards removed within the city wall, and ultimately to the Savoy palace, in the Strand. The mansion, it is said, stood near St. Botolph's Church. In this street was also the house of the lords Montague, in the reign of James I. still known by the name of Montague Court. The earls of Peterborough, in the reign of Charles I., etc., also had their residence near St. Bartholomew's Hospital. The street has also been remarkable for booksellers. It appears that in 1664, no less than four hundred and sixty pamphlets were pub- lished in Little Britain, in the short space of four years. The booksellers have all fled; for not one of the profession exists here at present."
Mullinder was a member of the Church of England, and is said to have been somewhat positive in his views. A half-acre of his farm he set apart for the erection of an English church, and another half-acre for
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
a burial ground, on the Little Britain road, west of the Little Britain church. The church was never erected; the burial ground contains the remains of many of the early settlers of the district. A school was added to the neighborhood in 1735; the building which it occupied be- ing also used for religious worship at occasional times. The more ac- tive "Dissenters" of the neighborhood united with the Bethlehem and the Wallkill churches ; those of the Church of England with St. David's, in Hamptonburgh. Presbyterianism, in some of its classifications, was the predominant religious element of the district, and was ultimately mainly consolidated in the Associate Reformed church at Little Brittain, although the Clintons maintained their connection with the church at Bethlehem. Agreeing very generally in their religious views, they were also remarkable for the uniformity of their political convictions. The names of but few who were Tories or King's men in the Revolution, has not been preserved.
The representative leader of the rebellion in New York, George Clin- ton, there found his most earnest followers. Liberty boys abounded ; Liberty poles were elevated; the Square was baptized with the name of Liberty; public records conclusively show that, in proportion to popula- tion, more officers and privates entered the Revolutionary service from Little Britain than from any other district in the state. Indeed, the dis- trict was intensely disloyal, and while in adjoining districts adherents to the King were bold and defiant, they shrunk away from the firm grasp of the patriots of Little Britain.
The Square .- By some now called Washington Square, is a part of Little Britain, although not completed in the town of New Windsor. Its name is from the fact that the public roads run in such a direction as to form a diamond-shaped enclosure, as seen in the diagram, in which a is the road to Newburgh, b to Goshen, c to Little Britain, and d to New Windsor. At the outbreak of the Revolution it received the name of Liberty Square, a title by which it is designated on Clinton's map of the town in 1798. The appellation is said to have been bestowed from the fact that there was not living on any one of the four roads a single per- son whose disloyalty was questionable.
The rare old tales that rare old men have related of Little Britain and its people, have illustration from the pen of the late Hon. Edward Mc- Graw, of Plymouth, Wisconsin, in the following :
Recollections .- "My recollections of Little Britain, traditional and per- sonal, are so largely identical with the Clintons that I cannot avoid referring to them first in my notes. I had about completed my sixth
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
year when General Clinton died, but, as my parents resided only a mile from his residence, I had the opportunity of seeing him frequently. Only on one occasion, however, was his personal appearance so distinct- ly impressed upon my mind that it remains still in a tolerable state of preservation. On the occasion referred to he and his lady came to the vicinity of our house in a carriage. After tying his horse he took out his surveying instruments, and, I had never seen any thing like them before, they attracted by attention very much. He observed my curios- ity. and was good enough to let me examine his compass. When he struck his staff in the earth and began to take sight over it, I thought it at least a very strange proceeding. Notwithstanding his kindness in permitting me to look at his instruments, he had no power of attrac- tion for my child-nature. Had it not been for his staff and compass, I would have avoided him. I fancy I can see now, in the picture of his- son, DeWitt, the same intellectual sterness that repelled from the father. He was a tall, erect old man, and according to the fashion of the day with old men, his hair was tied in a cue and hung down between his. shoulders. Many of the old gentlemen of that day wore knee breeches,. but I think he wore pantaloons. His lady, who accompanied him on this occasion, appeared and was much younger than himself. She was still less attractive for me than the General. I feared him-I disliked her. I saw her very often in years after her husband's death, but the first impression was never obliterated. It is unnecessary, I suppose, to say the lady I speak of was his second wife. She was a widow (Mrs. Gray) and had several children when the General married her. Of her children I remember only one, John Gray, who was killed by the falling of a tree in 1816. She is said to have had a wonderful influence over the General and controlled him to do her will on all occasions. Of the truth of this, of course, I know nothing. General Clinton had five chil- dren by her ; but I remember nothing of any of them save his son, James G. Clinton, who married a daughter of Joshua Conger, of Montgomery, by whom he had one son, DeWitt, who was killed in the Walker filibus- tering expedition in Nicaragua. Mrs. Clinton moved to Newburgh, af- ter the General's death and died there. From a letter from the late Major Chas. H. Sly (1874) I learn that one of her daughters by General Clinton, was named Caroline and married a Mr. Dewey; one, Letitia, married Dr. Bolton, of Newburgh; another, Anna, married Lieut. Ross, of West Point, and the fourth died unmarried. The General had four sons by his first wife, Mary DeWitt, and several daughters. I do not know anything about the latter. His sons were Alexander, who died while acting as private secretary for his uncle, Governor George Clin-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
ton ; Charles, who was a lawyer of some repute and inarried a Mulliner ; DeWitt, the leading statesman of his time, and George, who died young, but not without political distinction.
"The old Clinton homestead-I refer to the residence of Colonel Charles Clinton, the immigrant-consisted, when I first remember it, of a somewhat narrow, long strip of land. On the east end of the strip was the family residence, and also the family cemetery. The house con- sisted of five buildings erected at different times. The first was of stone and rough boards and consisted of one large room, fifteen or twenty feet square, with two windows and a door in front, and a window and door in the rear. A large fire-place and chimney occupied the north end of the room, and an open chamber covered the whole to the roof. To this was added a building on the right with one door and three win- dows, and subsequently a kitchen was put on. Then followed an ad- dition to the original building on the left, two stories; and lastly an addition on the extreme left. The latter was erected in 1761,* and was regarded as of a superior class in its day. It had a piazza on three sides, and was of good finish. I learn that the present owner (1874), Mr. Bull, has torn down all but the center building, using the latter as an ice house. "To what base uses may we come at last." The house stood a few rods west of a small creek that comes from the north, crosses the road and follows the valley south to the Otterkill. It was consider- able of a stream when the country was new, but don't amount to much now, I am told. East of the road and nearly opposite the old buildings, the land rises to quite a hill, on the highest part of which Col. Clinton laid out a burial plot for himself and his relatives. I am told that Col. James G. Clinton, in his time, had a substantial stone and mortar wall built around that part enclosing the Clinton family. A number of neighbors and friends were buried there, among others, Col. Geo. Den- niston and his wife, Mary (daughter of Patrick McClaughrey). Be- fore the fence was commenced. Col. James G. asked the relatives of those buried there to unite with him and extend the wall so as to en- close all the graves, but they refused to contribute. Nearly all the marks of graves on the outside of the wall have since disappeared. It was some years after his death that Col. Charles Clinton's resting place was marked by an engraved stone. Two stones in the yard, procured by the old Colonel, one for his sister and one for his daughter, were quaint
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