USA > New York > Orange County > Orange County, New York : a narrative history > Part 2
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address was circulated privately a notification of a meet- ing of officers at the new building on the following Tues- day. In general orders, March 11, Washington expressed disapproval of such disorderly proceedings, and at the same time requested the general and field officers, and one officer from each company, and a proper representa- tion of the staff of the army, to assemble at 12 o'clock on the following Saturday at the New Building to hear the report of the committee of the army to Congress.
General Gates presided at the meeting and deep solemnity pervaded the assemblage. Amid the most pro- found silence Washington ascended the platform and commenced reading his address, in which he said in part: "Gentlemen, by .an anonymous summons an attempt has been made to assemble you together. How inconsistent with the rules of propriety, how unmilitary, and how subversive of all order and discipline, let the good sense of the army decide." Here it is said, he
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GOV. GEORGE CLINTON
MRS. GEORGE CLINTON
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A NARRATIVE HISTORY
paused for a moment and drew out his spectacles, care- fully wiped them, and while doing so remarked: "These eyes, my friends, have grown dim, and these locks white in the service, yet I have never doubted the justice of my country." This simple remark under the circum- stances, had a powerful effect on the assembly. He con- cluded his address with these memorable words:
"Let me conjure you in the name of the common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity and the National char- acter of America, to express the utmost horror and de- testation of the man who wishes under any specious pretence to overturn the liberties of our country, who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil dis- cord and drench our rising Empire in blood. By thus determining and thus acting you will pursue the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes-you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies, who are compelled to resort from open force to secret artifice, and you will give once more distinguished proof of un- exampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the most complicated sufferings, and you will by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind: Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which luman virtue is capable of attaining."
Washington then descended from the platform and walked out of the building, leaving the officers to dis- cuss the matter, unrestrained by his presence. Their conference was brief, and by unanimous vote resolutions were passed expressing unshaken confidence in their chief and in Congress. Over forty years elapsed before it was discovered that the writer of these anonymnous addresses was Major John Armstrong, one of General Gate's aides, who after the war held civil offices of dis- tinction in the service of the Government.
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ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
KNOX HEADQUARTERS, OR THE JOHN ELLI- SON HOUSE .- A short distance northwest of Moodna, via the old Forge Hill Road, and on the old Blooming Grove and New Windsor Turnpike, stands the house and estate for many years in the occupancy of John Ellison and his descendants, but erected by his father, Col. Thomas Ellison. The main building was erected in 1754, as appears by contract with William Bull, the builder, and the castern part at an earlier date, prob- ably in 1734. The main building is of stone, with high ceilings, wainscoating, dormer windows, heavy sash and small panes of glass, the eastern portion of wood, with low ceilings and large fire-place.
The rooms in the main building are exceedingly substantial and antique, in the older part a bedroom opening from the kitchen has a trap-door and vault, which was no doubt, the "strong box" of the proprie- tor. 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 visitation. 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 waters of Silver Stream now run through the ravine to Moodna and the "twin lakes" of the old mill pond remain.
This building is locally known as "Knox's Head- quarters," it having been occupied by General Knox at different times in 1779, '80, '81, '82. General Greene and Cols. Wadsworth and Biddle were also quartered here, and ultimately, (1782-3,) it was the headquarters of Major-General Gates, then in command of the cantone- ment.
Aside from these general facts, the house has a his- tory of interest in connection with the social life of the officers of the army who were stationed within its walls and in the vicinity. They were mainly young men, and many of them with their wives, who found bere the conveniences for the entertaiments which they prized. Tradition affirms that on one occasion
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the brilliant Mrs. Knox gave an entertainment here at which Washington was present, and opened the dance with Maria Colden, who is said to have been a daughter of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., of Coldenham, that among the guests were Gitty Wynkoop and Sally Jansen, 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 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, until removed to insure its preservation during a period when the property was not occupied.
The question whether Washington danced will never be settled to the satisfaction of everyone. Gen. Greene, in 1779, writes to a friend in regard to a ball which he attended the night before: "His Excellency and Mrs. Greene danced three bours without once sitting down." Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, on the contrary, in- forms 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 attempt to dance. The late Mr. Rob- ert R. Ellison stated in reference to the party at Mrs. Knox's: "Maria Colden and Sally Jansen were relatives of John Ellison, the former through his sister's marriage with Cadwallader Colden, Jr .. and the latter, through his wife, Catherine Janson, of Kingston. . Ou 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 memories of this ancient mansion, is the picture of his army life which the ball at Mrs. Knox's affords.
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ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
THE TEMPLE, WHERE WASHINGTON MADE HIS HISTORIC ADDRESS REFUSING A CROWN.
0 N ANOTHER page will be found an illustration of the Public Building, or "Temple" as it was famil- iarly called, erected during the War of the Revolu- tion by soldiers under the orders of General Washing- ton, about three miles southwest of the city of Newburgh and near the present village of Vail's Gate. The first assembly at this building was on February 6, 1783, before its entire completion, to celebrate the anniversary of the alliance with France. It was in this building that Wash- ington assembled his officers on Saturday, March 15, 1783, and addressed them in reply to the anonymous let- ters which had been written and circulated among the officers and soldiers against the establishment of a Re- public at the conclusion of the struggle and strongly advocating the establishment of a Monarchy with Wash- ington at its head.
It was here that Washington exhibited the noblest self-sacrifice and the loftiest patriotism that the world has ever known in all the annals of recorded history. In his address to the assembled officers he boldly stated that he regarded the movement as the greatest crisis of the war, and one that filled him with more alarm than all the disasters of the previous seven years. Here also was organized the patriotic order of The Cincinnati. Here it can be truthfully said that in this building was born the great American Republic, which today is the wonder of the world.
The building was a wooden frame structure upon a stone foundation, the interior being lathed and plastered. It was well furnished with a spacious hall sufficient to accommodate a good size audience and an orchestra. The vault of the hall was arched aud at each end were two rooms used for the assemblage of the boards of officers and an office and store for the quartermaster an commissary departments. It stood for a few years after the war when it was demolished. The late Major Edward C. Boynton, of Newburgh, obtained from Mr. Luther L. Tarbell, of Boston, the original drawings,
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made by his father, William Tarbell, who was a soldier in the Seventh Massachusetts Regiment. The drawings were made with the juices of grass, butternuts, etc., and were on sheets of paper eighteen inches wide, pasted to- gether, the whole being about seven feet in length.
At noon, on the 19th of April, 1783, eight years after the commencement of the war, the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed from the door of this building.
It was here that General Lafayette was made a Mason by the American Union League, which accom- panied the army.
OMNIA RELIOT SERVARE REPUBLIOAY ON THIS SITE THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI WAS BORN MAY 10, 1783, AT THE LAST CANTONEMENT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY AND IT STILL LIVES TO PER- PETUATE THE MEMORIES OF THE REVOLUTION.
(SOUTH SIDE TABLET)
THIS TABLET IS INSERTED BY THE MASONIC FRATERNITY OF NEWBURGH IN MEMORIAL OF WASHINGTON AND HIS MASONIC COMPEERS UNDER WHOSE DIRECTION AND PLANS THE TEMPLE WAS CONSTRUCTED AND IN WHICH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE FRATERNITY WERE HELD 1783.
(NORTH SIDE TABLET)
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ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
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ERECTED BY THE NEWBURGH REVOLUTIONARY MONUMENT ASSOCIATION 1891 E. M. RUTTENBUR, President JOSEPH M. DICKEY, Vice-President. A. McLEAN, Treasurer RUSSELL HEADLEY, Secretary
COMMITTEE OF THE NEW YORK STATE
SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, FOURTH OF JULY, 1892: T. M. L. CHRISTY, CHAIRMAN
WILLIAM SIMM KELSE JOHN SHAYLER
(WEST SIDE TABLET)
UZAL KNAPP, REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER.
IT IS not the purpose of the writer to belittle or be- smirch the patriotic record of an old Revolutionary soldier, but to set right a historical fact supported by official records of the government, for history should be founded upon truth, supported by undisputed documen- tary evidence, not local tradition and fiction.
Visitors to Washington's Headquarters at New- burgh gaze with reverence and interest upon the grave of Uzal Knapp, a Revolutionary soldier, who was buried there with military honors in 1856. The monument over his grave is of brown stone, placed upon a substantial granite base. The inscriptions on the front and back are as follows:
THE LAST OF THE LIFE GUARDS UZAL KNAPP
BORN 1759 DIED 1856 . MONMOUTH, VALLEY FORGE, YORKTOWN
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GRAVE OF UZAL KNAPP,
A soldier in the Revolutionary Army, buried at Washington's Headquarters, Newburgh, N. Y. .
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ERECTED BY THE NEWBURGH GUARDS COMPANY F, 19th REGIMENT, N. Y. S. M. JUNE, 1860
The term "Washington's Life Guards" is a mis- nomer, which came into use through local tradition, and was erroneously applied to what is officially known as "The Commander-in-Chief's Guard." The military rec- ord of Uzal Knapp can be obtained by addressing an inquiry to the Commissioner of Pensions at Washing- ton, asking for a transcript of the pension case of Uzal Knapp, Revolutionary soldier. Also by inquiry of the Record and Pension office of the War Department for a statement of the services of Uzal Knapp in the Revolu- tionary War.
These official records of the Government show that Uzal Knapp enlisted for the war at Stamford, Conn., on May 1, 1777, in Captain Stephen Butt's Company, Sec- ond Connecticut Regiment, and after being successively promoted to a Corporal and a Sergeant, was honorably discharged from his regiment on June 8, 1783, and sub- sequently died at New Windsor, N. Y., July 10, 1856, without having any service in the "Commander-in- Chief's Guard," erroneously, but commonly known as "Washington's Life Guard." The muster and pay rolls of the Connecticut Line and the "Commander-in-Chief's Guard" are on file at the War Department, Washington. The name of Uzal Knapp does not appear on the muster roll of the "Commander-in-Chief's Guard."
If there still be those who have doubts of the cor- rectness of the military record of Uzal Knapp, they can get further and more detailed enlightenment by consult- ing a publication entitled: "The Commander-in-Chief's Guard; Revolutionary War:" Carlos E. Godfrey, M. D .: .Washington, D. C., Illustrated. Publishers: Stevenson- Smith Co., Washington, D. C., 1904. This volume is
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carefully compiled from the official records and facsimile copies are shown of all important documents. The pen- sion record of Uzal Knapp does not show that he was a member of the "Commander-in-Chief's Guard." and there is not the slightest evidence on file that he was connected with that notable organization.
The foundation for this historical fiction can be traced to the statement of the historian Lossing, in his book entitled "Field Book of the Revolution." By ref- erence to volume 1 of this work, page 687, Mr. Lossing states that he was the last of Washington's Life Guard, but also states that the narrative of Sergeant Knapp's life was obtained in the lifetime of the latter "through another person."
The belief that he was a member of the "Command- er-in-Chief's Guard," which, through local tradition came to be known as "Washington's Life Guards," was so strongly prevalent that when his monument was erected in 1860 the historical fiction was accepted as a fact.
SARAH WELLS BULL
The story of Sarah Wells Bull is one of the histori- cal romances of Orange County, and although retold many times it is a thrilling tale that never ceases to be of interest, for she was one of the heroic characters of the times in which she lived. Briefly told the life story of Sarah Wells, whose descendants today number thousands, is as follows:
After the County of Orange came into existence by legal enactment on October Ist, 1691, in the third year of the reign of William and Mary, and in the admin- istration of Henry Slaughter, Esq., Governor of the Colony, there was a brisk demand for land in the newly opened territory and an active competition in obtaining patents began. .. On December 30, 1702, the Cheesecock Patent was granted. This was followed on March 5, 1703, by the granting of the Wawayanda Patent, and on August 28, 1704, by the Minisink Patent. These patents were obtained by purchase from the Indians inhabiting
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The old stone house built by William Bull in 1727, Town of Hamptonburgh, Orange Co., N. Y.
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those territories and covered extensive tracts, the boundaries of which were so indefinitely described that for many years thereafter there was great difficulty in establishing titles.
Goshen was in the district known as the Wawayanda Patent, which was purchased from the Indians by John Bridges and Company. With him were associated eleven other patentees who held the land in common until 1706 when it was divided into twelve parts. In 1712 Chris- topher Denn, a resident of New York City, a carpenter by trade, after undergoing the hardships of a visit to his land, determined to make a settlement upon it. Having selected a spot on the Otterkill, as it is now. known, about two miles from the present village of Goshen, he returned to New York accompanied by a few Indians, and equipped an expedition and sent it by boat up the Hudson. A landing was made on the pres- ent site of the village of New Windsor, and from thence the little band made its way through the trackless forest to a spot previously selected.
Christopher Denn and Madame Denn were childless, but had in their charge an orphan maid born in New Jer- sey, near Staten Island, whom they had adopted as their own, and who lived in their home in early child- hood, while they lived ou the island. The name of this orphan girl, then about sixteen years of age, was Sarah Wells. Denn, instead of heading the expedition him- self, placed it in charge of Sarah Wells and two white men, who were carpenters, and the Indians who had accompanied him to New York, thereby putting the little sixteen-year-old girl in a "very imprudent and hazard- ous condition," to quote Eager's Ilistory. An inventory of the outfit taken by them, as related by Sarah Wells in after years, is of interest. It consisted of two horses with bells on, two milch cows with bells, two Irish brah- mas, one spade, two pans, two beds, bedding, various articles of food, such as sugar, flour, tea, coffee, and a few trinkets and knives for the Indians.
Thus equipped the little caravan started for the spot selected by Christopher Denn and after a great many hardships reached the end of their journey in two days. On their arrival work was immediately
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ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
commenced to erect a wigwam for their habitation, which was soon ready for occupancy. Conscience stricken at having committed Sarah to the dangers of the forest and the Indians, Christopher Denn and his wife followed by horseback the day after Sarah had left them, and the. construction of a log house was begun which was occu- pied by Denn and his little family. A few years later Sarah was married to William Bull.
William Bull, the husband of Sarah Wolls, was born at Wolverhampton, England, February, 1689, and died at his home in Hamptonburgh in 1755, aged 6G years. His wife, Sarah Wells, was born April 6, 1694, and died April 21, 1796, aged 102 years. They were married in 1718. Their remains lie in the family burying ground at Hamptonburgh, near the present stone house. which he gave for the purpose, known as "Burying Ilill."
The marriage of these two was the first Christian ceremony recorded within the limits of the town of Goshen. The ceremony took place in the new log house of Christopher Dem. Bull was an Episcopalian and desired to be married by the rites of his church. A curious difficulty arose as to the procedure. Courts of justice had been established and a magistrate was in the neighborhood. but there was no church and no clergy- man who could proclaim the bans three weeks in advance. It was decided that circumstances altered cases, so the wedding guests were invited and when they arrived the magistrate, carrying a prayer book, proceeded first to the front door of the cabin and proclaimed the bans to the listening forest, then to the back door where he proclaimed them to the cattle and the outbuildings, and then, returning to the front door, proclaimed them once more to the forest. The letter of the law having thus been observed, he performed the ceremony. Sarah Wells' wedding dress was of homespun linen, embroid- ered by herself and is still preserved by one of her descendants, Mrs. Julia Tuthill, of Craigville.
Denn had given his adopted daughter 100 acres of land, as a reward for conducting the expedition from New York, and in 1722 they erected the stone house to replace the cabin in which they spent the first years of their married life. According to the late Mr. Ebenezer
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Bull, of the Stone House, they built their new house on a tract of land which William . Bull secured from King George II, near his wife's one hundred acres. Tradi- tion records that Sarah Wells assisted in its construc- fion by carrying many of the stones in her apron. This house stands to-day and is known as the old Stone House, an illustration of which appears on another page. It is a quaint and interesting building and well worth an inspection.
The children born to this couple were: John, born May 13, 1721, married Hannah Holly, of Goshen; Wil- liam, born March 13, 1723, married Ann Booth, of Hamp fonburgh; Sarah, born September 1, 1725, married George Booth, of Hamptonburgh; Thomas, born Dec. 27, 1727, married Mary Kerr, of Florida; Isaac, born Nov. 17, 1729, married Sarah Mulliner, of Little Britain; Esther, born May 29, 1731, married John Miller, of Montgomery; Mary, born February 3, 1733, married Benjamin Booth, of Hamptonburgh; Margaret, born May 1, 1736, married Silas Horton, of Goshen; Cath- erine, born May 24, 1738, married James Faulkner, of Wallkill; Ann, born November 4, 1740, married William Eager, of Neeleytown; Richard, born May 29, 1743, married Jemima Budd, of Goshen; Elinor, born March 4, 1745, married William Weller, of Montgomery.
The descendants of Sarah Wells Bull and her chil- dren now are numbered by the thousands, are scattered all over this great Republic, and are found in every state of the Union and Canada. The old house and farm were purchased in 1921 by the Bull Family Association which meets annually at the old farm where a monster picnic is held that is attended by members of the Bull family not only from Orange County, but from distant points of the United States.
The present officers of the Association are: Presi- dent-Hamlet S. Roe, of Chester; Vice-President, Lil- lian Bull Wait, of Newburgh; Treasurer-Ernest M. Bull, of Monroe; Secretary-Robert McLeod Jackson, of the Town of Hamptonburgh.
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ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
Old Churches of Orange County
Orange County has the distinction of possessing many old churches which were established in early Colonial times, nearly all of which are in existence today and in a flourishing condition. The oldest church organi- zation in the county was established at Goshen in 1721, but services were held there in a crude building some years previous to the formation of a permanent religions organization. The second oldest church organization was established near Montgomery, viz., Goodwill Pres- byterian Church.
The early pioneers of Orange County were men and women strongly imbued with religious convictions and staunch and firm in their faith, and as the years have rolled by their descendants have kept alive these old church organizations from which have scattered thou- sands of God-fearing people to all parts of this great Republic. Wander where you will, through the forty- eight States of this Union, one will meet hundreds of men and women whose memory is rich with recollections of early life in connection with associations and hap- penings in these old churches.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Goshen, N. Y.
The First Presbyterian Church of Goshen undoubt- edly has the distinction of being the oldest religious organization in the County of Orange. Ruttenber's His- tory of the County of Orange says: "There is ample evi- dence of a collateral nature to show that the Presbyter- ian Church of Goshen was organized as carly as 1721. The dates of legal papers conveying property to the church and the regular call and settlement of a pastor establish this fact. There are, however, no church rec- ords in the possession of the society showing either
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REV. GEORGE H. SCOFIELD, D. D., Pastor 1922-
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facts, dates, or names for the succeeding sixty years. The founders of the church were doubtless in the main, the founders of Goshen."
Local tradition records that as early as 1715 a small congregation assembled in Goshen to hear the preaching of an itinerant clergyman by the name of Treat.
At the laying of the corner stone of the present edi- fice, May 11, 1869, the Rev. Dr. Snodgrass, Pastor of the church, in his address said:
"During the year 1720 there was preaching in the settlement occasionally by a clergyman by the name of Treat, but in 1721 a call was made upon the Rev. John Bradner, who accepted the invitation, and was installed that year as the first Pastor. He was ordained to the ministry in 1714 and was settled for some years before he came to Goshen at Cape May in the State of New Jer- sey. He died in 1732 and his remains are with us today.
"In 1724 a committee was appointed to superintend the erection of the first house of worship. There are no particulars on record as to the character, dimensions, or completion of this building, but it is well-known to have been a wooden structure, and to have occupied the ground on which the Court House now stands. This building continued to accommodate the congregation up to the year 1810. In January of that year a committee was appointed to take into consideration the erection of a new building. This new building was completed in 1813 at a cost of $14,000, and was dedicated in August of that year."
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