USA > New York > Orange County > New Windsor > History of the town of New Windsor, Orange County, N.Y. > Part 9
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Hamilton's Tavern .- The district known as "The Square " was fam- ous in the history of the town for years anterior to the revolution; it is more particularly referred to in another connection. Conspicuous in its revolutionary history was the hostelry of Mrs. Sarah Hamilton, which stood on the southeast corner of the roads which here cross each other No special assignment of officers to it is of record, but the general fact, attested by tradition, is that it was so occupied, and moreover that it was the scene of more army life of a given character than any of the numer- ous hostelries of the town. The building was destroyed by fire some years ago. On the opposite, southwest, corner is a building which is one of the somewhat numerous number said to have been occupied by LaFay- ette.
Mr. John Ellison House or "Knox's Headquarters."-A short dis- tance northwest of Moodna, via the old Forge Hill road, and on the old Blooming Grove and New Windsor turnpike, stands the house and es- tate for many years in the occupancy of John Ellison and his descend- ants, but erected by his father Col. Thomas Ellison, the main building in 1754, as appears by contract with Wm. Bull, the builder, and the eas- tern part at an earlier date, probably in 1734. The main building is of stone, with high ceilings, wainscoting, dormer windows, heavy sash and small panes of glass; the eastern section of wood, with low ceilings and large fireplace. The rooms in the main building are exceedingly sub- stantial and antique; in the older part a bedroom opening from the kit- chen has a trap-door and vault which was no doubt the "strong-box "
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
of the proprietor. The house formerly fronted the old road leading from the village of New Windsor to Goshen, which then ran in front of the house. The turnpike changed the line of this road and runs in the rear of the house leaving the old front unexposed except on visi- tation. South of the house at the edge of a remarkable ravine the proprietor had a grist-mill of wide repute but now removed, but the dashing waters of Silver Stream through the ravine to the Moodna and the "twin lakes " of the old mill-pond remain.
The building is locally known as "Knox's Headquarters," it having been occupied by Gen. Knox at different times in 1779, '80, '81, '82. Gen. Greene, and Cols. Wadsworth and Biddle were also quartered here, and ultimately ('82, '83) it was the headquarters of Major-General Gates, then in command of the cantonment .*
Aside from these general facts, the house has a history of interest in connection with the social life of the officers of the army who were stationed within its walls and in its vicinity. They were mainly young men, and many of them with bright wives who found here the conven- iences for the entertainments which they prized. Tradition affirms that on one occasion the brilliant Mrs. Knox gave an entertainment here at which Washington was present and opened the dance with Maria Col- den, who is said to have been a daughter of Cadwallader Colden, jr., of Coldenham, that among the guests were Gitty Wynkoop and Sally Jan- sen of Kingston, who were great belles in their day, and that a French officer, who was present, gallantly inscribed with his diamond ring the names of the trio on one of the small window panes in the sash of the principal room. The glass with the graven names remained in the sash to attest the truth of the story for over one hundred years and until re- moved to insure its continued preservation during a period when the property was not occupied.
The question whether Washington danced will never perhaps be set- tled to the satisfaction of every one. Gen. Greene, in 1779, writes to a friend in regard to a ball which he attended the night before: "His Ex- cellency and Mrs. Greene danced three hours without once sitting down." Mrs. Alex. Hamilton, on the contrary, informed Historian Lossing that Washington never danced; that he often attended balls and parties on in- vitation, and sometimes walked the figures, but that she never saw him
*Certificate of the occupation by Genl. Knox and Cols. Wadsworth and Bid- dle is preserved in Washington's Headquarters. Occupation by Genl. Gates rests on the statement of Chastellux, written in December, 1782 : " After viewing the barracks, I regained the high road; but passing before Genl. Gate's house, the same that Genl. Knox occupied in 1780, I stopped sometime to make a visit of po- liteness."
JOHN ELLISON'S HOUSE -- GEN. KNOX'S HEADQUARTERS
June and July, 1779; Autumn of 1779; from November 20 to July 4, 1781; May to September, 1782. Also headquarters of General Gates 1779, and December, 1782, to Spring of 1783. Also General Greene's headquarters June and July, 1779.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
attempt to dance. The late Mr. Robert R. Ellison stated in reference to the party at Mrs. Knox's: "Maria Colden and Sallie Jansen were rela- tives of John Ellison, the former through his sister's marriage with Cad- wallader Colden, Jr., and the latter through his wife, Catharine Jansen, of Kingston. On the occasion of the ball at Knox's Headquarters, Washington did not open the dance with Maria Colden, but, the doors being thrown open, promenaded with her through the rooms. This has been the tradition in our family, members of which were present, and has been confirmed by others who were witnesses." The traditions in the old army families of New Windsor and Newburgh, however, strongly confirm the testimony of Gen. Greene. That Washington danced in his more active years may be accepted as a fact and not the least of the me- mories of this ancient mansion is the picture of his army life which the ball at Mrs. Knox's affords.
The Camp Ground and Temple .- It would be as difficult to fix the periods at which some part of New Windsor was not occupied by either militia or regular troops during the revolution, as to specify the times when it was so occupied or by what particular bodies of men. Aside from the rendezvous of its several militia companies, it is certain that at least a portion of the regiment of Col. James Clinton, in the Canada campaign of 1775, was recruited at Little Britain; that in 1776 the bat- tery at Plum Point was mounted; in 1777, Gov. George Clinton re-or- ganized, at the Falls House, the militia and fugitives from the Highland Forts ; in 1779-80 nine brigades of the Continental army were encamp- ed here, and other brigades and regiments in 1780, 'SI, '82 and '83. The precise grounds on which these encampments were located, with the exception of those of 1782, '83, are equally buried in oblivion. In regard to the last, however, the record is dear. With the exception of Lamb's artillery, which came here in July, 1782, and subsequently removed to West Point, the right and left wings of the army, with the exception jof the Connecticut regiments, were cantoned on both sides of Silver Stream, in the vicinity of the John Ellison house, which became the head- quarters of Gen. Gates in command, in October, 1782, and remained there until June 20, 1783, a period of about seven months. The "main army," as it was designated, had been concentrated at Verplanck's Point in September, '82, to bid adieu to its French allies, enroute to Boston for return to France, and that service having been performed, the left wing, under Major-General Heath, and the right wing under Major- General Gates, broke camp on the 23rd of October, crossed the Hudson at West Point on the 27th, and reached the camp ground on the 28th. The right wing followed a few days later. Huts and barracks were
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
erected, and also a building known as The Temple for general army purposes and public worship. "In this cantonment," writes Heath, "the army spent the winter very comfortably, and it proved to be their last winter quarters."
The points of special interest in connection with the cantonment are : I. The precise organizations which were embraced in the cantonment; 2. Their location; 3. The character of the barracks which they occu- pied; 4. The public building or The Temple; and 5. The disbandment of the army.
I. The troops designated in official orders which were cantoned here were: Maryland detachment, New Jersey regiment and New Jersey bat- talion, Ist and 2d New York regiments; New Hampshire regiment and New Hampshire battalion, and the Ist, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th Massachusetts regiments, the whole representing a force of six to eight thousand men. The cantonment was under command of Major-Gener- al Gates during the winter of '82-3, with headquarters at the John Elli- son house in its immediate vicinity.
2. The location of several lines is shown on the accompaning official map of the cantonment, except in the case of the Maryland detachment. Reference to the map will show that the "2d M. Brig." was barracked on the south part of the Heron farm east of the Forge Hill road beside a small stream of water, and the "Ist and 3d M. Brigs." on the McGill farm west of that road. The New York, New Jersey and New Hamp- shire lines were west of the swamp, on "Rice Meadows," through the center of which flow the waters of Silver Stream, erronously marked "Beaver Dam." The two divisions of the camp were united by a cause- way across the stream and swamps. The line of the barracks can still be traced on the west side of the swamp, but those on the east have disap- peared, as has also the causeway. The hospital was on the Major Mor- ton place, now (1892), of Judge Fancher. It was no doubt erected in the early part of the war. Surveys from the "Brewster" house, which remains, would no doubt locate every line almost precisely.
3. The character of the barracks and the appearance of the canton- ment are equally of specific record, Marquis de Chastellux, who visited Washington in Newburgh, Dec. 5th, '82, writes: "On the 7th, I took leave of General Washington. Col. Tighlman accompanied me on horse- back to show me the road, and barracks that serve as winter quarters for the American army, which were not quite finished, though the season was far advanced and the cold very severe. They are spacious, healthy and well built, and consist in a row of log houses containing two cham- bers, each inhabited by eight soldiers when complete, which makes five
VIEW OF HIGHLANDS FROM TEMPLE HILL
Camp Ground from October 28, 1782, to June 20, 1783, of Revolutionary Army, New Windsor Site of Temple in the foreground
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
to six affectives; a second range of barracks is destined for the non- commissioned officers. These barracks are placed in the middle of the woods on the slope of the hill, and within reach of the water. As the great object is a healthy and convenient situation, the army are on sever- al hills not exactly parallel with each other. But it will appear singular in Europe, that these barracks should be built without a bit of iron, not even nails, which would render the work tedious and difficult were not the Americans very expert in putting wood together. After viewing the barracks I regained the main road." While the description is sufficient- ly specific it will be remembered that the word huts is frequently em- ployed in current histories ; but huts, i. e. "little walls made of stones heaped up, the intervals filled in with earth kneaded with water, or simp- ly with mud, a few planks for a roof, an outside chimney and a small door at the side of the chimney," although in frequent use were not con- structed here. This is also the testimony of Gen. Heath, who describes the cantonment as "regular and beautiful," and is further confirmed by the drawings made by William Tarball, a soldier of the Seventh Massa- chusetts regiment recently recovered and fully attested. The cantonment was literally a city of log houses in the woods, the counterpart of which has never existed in the history of armies or of nations.
4. The public building, or The Temple of Virtue as it was familiarly known in the army, was located on what is now designated Temple Hill, on the farm of William L. McGill, and its site marked by a shaft or pyramid of field stones laid up for that purpose-a crude monument perhaps but one in keeping with the circumstances which it commemo- rates. Though not shown on the map of the cantonment, not being contemporaneous with it in date, the location is thoroughly established by tradition unbroken since 1783, and inferentially by the location of the lines of the encampment. Gen. Heath writes in regard to it: "Upon an eminence the troops erected a building handsomely finished with a spacious hall, sufficient to contain a brigade of troops on Lord's Day, for public worship, with an orchestra at one end; the vault of the ceil- ing was arched, at eachi end of the hall were two rooms conveniently situated for the issuing of general orders, for the sitting of Boards of Officers, Court Martials, etc., and an office and store for the Quar- termaster and Commissary's departments. On the top was a cup- alo, and flag staff on which a flag was hoisted occasionally for a signal "1. c." How this description came to be overlooked by Mr. Loss- ing in preparing his Field Book and a misleading pictoral representa- tive given of a building at West Point occupied for Masonic purposes, cannot be explained, but happily the error has been corrected not only
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
by the quotation from Gen. Heath, but by the recovery of a drawing by William Tarbell, of whom notice has already been made, a fac simile copy of which is given herewith, which represents the building as a large and substantial structure, resting upon a stone foundation rising four or five feet above grade to the window sills. The windows were perhaps eight feet high and the whole height from the ground to the eaves from fifteen to twenty feet. The windows shown are nine in number (one side only represented), five of which are on the south and four on the north, with a doorway near the center, on either side of which are two Corinthian colums surmounted by a cupalo and flag- staff. The building above the foundation was clearly a framed structure with a steep shingled roof. The Corinthian columns and the tessellated pavement are unmistakable emblems of the Masonic Fraternity. Evi- dently they were not employed as ornaments merely, but as indicating the connection of that order as well as the army proper, with the struc- ture and its uses. It may well be doubted whether there is in the nation a building more invested with important revolutionary events than this -no spot more hallowed by patriotic associations. The only celebration that Washington ever ordered was held here on the 14th April, 1783; here and here alone is it noted that the army, "with voices and instru- ments," rolled Billings' anthem, "No King but God !" bold and strong against the sky; here that the hopes of monarchial politicians were crushed by the reply of Washington to the "Newburgh Letters," and here that "The Society of the Cincinnati" was organized to perpetuate not only the friendships of officers and of nations, but to maintain for- ever a nation on the broad basis of freedom and independence.
5. In the construction of barracks and a public building it was evi- dently the expectation that the cantonment would have a longer con- tinuance than it had. Peace, unseen in November, 1782, began to send out its harbingers during the winter, and in April came the announce- ment of the exchange of preliminary articles which awaited only the con- currence of France. The certainty that this concurrence would follow led to the passage of orders by Congress to issue furloughs to men who had enlisted for the war, under which whole regiments marched from the cantonment, never to be again called into service. The Maryland detachment went out on the 5th of June; the New Jersey line on the 6th, and on the same day, the New York regiments marched to Pough- keepsie and there surrendered their drums and battle-flags to Gov. Clin- ton; the New Hampshire line on the 7th and the Massachusetts troops on the 8th and 9th. In every direction the roads were filled with veter- ans returning to their homes with well-earned honors but in poverty.
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DEWITT MAP
October 28, 1782, to June 20, 1783, when the Revolutionary Army was in Winter Quarters at New Windsor, Simeon DeWitt, Chief Geographer to the Army, mapped the encampment and surrounding countr :
S. De Witt. Geog't U.S.
AH.
Cummings
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
On the IIth of June The Temple was riven by lightning while its burid- ers were departing, and on Monday, June 22d, under Washington's or- der, the "short term" men were marched to West Point and the sick taken down by boats. The barracks of the Ist and 3d Massachusetts brigades, together with The Temple, were sold by auction, under direc- tion of the Quartermaster-General, on the 13th of September following, and their debray and walls suffered to decay or became obliterated by the year. Looking upon their ancient seats the entire panorama of the Revolution passes before the mental vision, and in the flash of the guns that lighted up the world the ancient town is blended as the center from which radiates all its scenes.
On the accompaning official map the location of the dwellings of sev- eral of the sturdy patriots of New Windsor are given, and from the fact that others are omitted it is inferred that those marked were at least in part occupied by armny officers. Identification, however, cannot now be made further than that Joel Barlow, "chaplain, poet and politician," is said to have had quarters with Deacon Saml. Brewster in the house marked "Brewster's." Most of the buildings on the map are still stand- ing (1892) and in occupation, and on the same old roads with the excep- tion of the highway on which "Dusenberry's" is marked, which was abandoned on the construction of the "Snake Hill turnpike" a short dis- tance further east. New roads and drives abound, but substantially the revolutionary roads remain.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHURCH HISTORY.
The religious history of New Windsor has representation in church organizations both within and without its borders, viz: The Church of England Mission, the Highlands or Bethlehem Church, the Wallkill or Goodwill Church, the Neelytown Church, the Associate Presbyter- ian Church of Little Britain, the Presbyterian Church at New Windsor, Berea Church, St. George's Episcopal Church at Newburgh, St. Dav- id's Church in Hamptonburgh, St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in New Windsor, the Methodist Episcopal Churches at Vail's Gate and Little Britain, and St. Patrick's Church at Newburgh through its recently es- tablished mission at New Windsor village. Confining attention to the churches within the town, we notice first
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MISSION.
In response to petitions which have been referred to in another part of this work,* the London "Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" ** established, in 1730, the New Windsor Mission or Parish, and appointed to its charge the Rev. Richard Charlton, *** who entered upon his duties in 1731. The parish then embraced a district of some twenty miles on the Hudson and a nearly equal distance west, including in New Windsor the families of Alsop, Ellison, Chambers, Mulliner and Matthews; the Coldens of Coldenham; Phineas McIntosh, of Newburgh; Henry Wileman of Wilemantown, and other residents. Mr. Charlton removed to New York and was succeeded by the Rev. W. Kilpatrick, **** who continued the work until about 1734, from which
*See "Name," chapter I. ** Chartered by King William, June 16, 1701. *** Hawkins, in his "Historical Notices of the Missions of the Church of England," states that the Rev. Mr. Charlton held "the humble but important office of catechist to the negroes, first at New Windsor, and afterwards at New York." While no doubt appointed to that office there could have been but few, if any negroes in New Windsor at that time. He remained in New Windsor but a short time, removing to New York in 1732, where he baptised a considerable number of the class to whom he was appointed. In 1747, he was promoted to the church of St. Andrew, on Staten Island, where he died in 1777.
**** The Society for the Propogation of the Gospel supplied Mr. Charlton's place by removing their missionary. Rev. Mr. Kilpatrick, from Cape Fair, New- foundland, to New Windsor, but he, having a large family and being a corpulent man, soon got tired of the country as well as they of him."-St. Andrew's Church Records.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
time until 1744-5, when the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins ***** was appointed the parish was vacant. Mr. Watkins, soon after his appointment, divid- ed the parish into three stations, one at New Windsor, one on the Otter- kill where he resided, and one on the Wallkill, the New Windsor sta- tion was changed to Newburgh, in 1747, where, soon after, the Glebe which had been set apart for the support of a Lutheran minister, pass- ed into its possession, and became known as the Parish of Newburgh, and in 1770, by letters of incorporation, as St. George's. The station on the Otterkill, in the same year (1770) was given the title of St. David's, and the one on the Wallkill that of St. Andrew's. Letters of incorpo- poration for the several stations were obtained by the Rev. John Sayre* who succeeded Mr. Watkins in 1769-'70. Mr. Sayre resigned in 1775, and from that time until 1790 none of the churches had a rector. The Rev. George H. Spierin ** was then engaged and served until 1793, from which time until 1806, the rectorship of St. George's and St. David's were vacant, although for the purpose of bringing legal action for the recovery of the Glebe in 1805, the Rev. Cave Jones was appointed agent for the St. George's and took up his residence in Newburgh. The Rev. Frederick Van Horne, who had been in charge of St. Andrew's from 1793, agreed to serve the three congregations in 1806. He was suc- ceeded in 1809, by the Rev. Mr. Mackin, and in 1810 by the Rev. Wm.
***** Dr. Johnson, of Connecticut, recommended Mr. Hezekiah Watkins as a proper person to be sent home for Orders. A small subscription was raised for him and he went to England, was ordained and appointed by the Society as mis- sionary with a salary of only £30 ( then about $30) to officiate at three divisions of the mission-New Windsor, Otterkill and Wallkill. Mr. Watkins was a single man of an easy and inoffensive disposition, so that he lived happily with his peo- ple till the day of his death."-St. Andrew's Records.
The Watkins family settled near the Otterkill, and established their family burying ground. In this burying ground, now entirely neglected, and from which it is said many head-stones have been removed and converted into door-stones, lie the remains of the reverend missionary and also of those of his mother, Jo- anna, widow of Ephrian Watkins and of several members of his father's family- Abel, Joseph, Joseph 2nd, Hezekiah, Josse and Subrint. wife of Samuel. The inscription on the head-stones of Rev. Hezekiah is as follows : "Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, who departed this life on the ioth day of April, 1765, aged 57."
*The Rev. John Sayre removed from the Newburgh mission to Fairfield. In- common with the great majority of the clergy of the Church of England, and especially those under appointment and pay of the London Society, he maintained allegiance to "his Majesty's person and government," and for so doing was con- fined to his house and garden and proclaimed as an enemy to his country, by the Revolutionists of Fairfield. A more severe blow than this, however, fell upon him at the hands of his friends. On the 7th of July, 1779. the notorious Governor Tryon, of New York, with a company of "loyal Americans," landed at Fairfield and set the town on fire, which, in its progress consumed the mission church and also Mr. Sayre's house, furniture, food and raiment. He then returned to New York or "within the King's lines."-Hawkins' Mission of the Church of England.
** History of Newburgh, page 291.
Conn .
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR.
Powell. The Rev. John Brown succeeded the latter as rector of St. George's and New Windsor in 1815, during which year "the Holy Com- munion was administered for the first time in the parish of Newburgh since the Revolutionary war, to the small number of three," ** so com- pletely shattered had the church become through the participation of many of its members in the cause of the King. Through all its history the Ellisons of New Windsor were liberal supporters of the Mission, and to the liberality of one of the family, Thomas Ellison, Jr., of New York, was very largely due the re-establishment of St. George's, and the organization of the present St. Thomas' of New Windsor. The history of St. George's has been fully written as well as that of St. Andrew's. St. David's erected and enclosed a church edifice in 1771, but never completed it. It is said to have been occupied as a hospital during the. encampment of the Army of the Revolution in the vicinity ; that it was subsequently occupied for religious worship occasionally but was ulti- mately blown over and permitted to decay. The parish organization, however, was never entirely broken up, and possession of the site is- still retained.
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