USA > New York > Saratoga County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York > Part 2
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Both mountain ranges consist principally of primary rocks. A stratum of crystalline limestone extends along the foot of the mountains, and below this is Potsdam sandstone in large quantities. Iron ore has been obtained in these formations, but not in paying quantities. Among the other minerals found in this section are agate, chalcedony, chrys- oberyl, garnet, tourmalin, phosphate of lime, graphite, iron pyrites and tufa. In 1897 and 1898 gold was discovered in several places in the towns of Greenfield and Saratoga Springs, and expert geologists and mineralogists express the conviction that it can be produced in paying quantities.
In the southern half of the county the rocks belong to the shales and slates of the Hudson River group. Below these have been found im- mense quantities of mineral waters, which, by reason of their medicinal
5
GEOLOGY.
properties, have become famous the world over. These springs are described at length in succeeding pages. Drift deposits, consisting of sand and clay, cover a large part of the county. Among the mountains the soil is a light, sandy or gravelly loam, adapted to little else than grazing. On the intervales along the rivers it is a deep, clayey loam and alluvium, for the most part very productive. In the southwestern part of the county it is a heavy, clayey loam. The greater part of the two eastern tiers of towns consists of light sand.
No deposited rocky beds are to be found in the county higher than the Hudson River group of slates and shales, the fossils of which rise no higher than the Lower Silurian age. Consequently it will be seen that, from a geological standpoint, the county is very old. The great Canadian Laurentian mountain system is well developed in Northern New York and stretches its rugged outlines well down into Saratoga county. This system constitutes the oldest known strata of the earth's crust. The Laurentian rocks are mostly of the metamorphic series, related to granite, gneiss, syenite, etc. Underlying the northwestern part of the village of Saratoga Springs is found the grayish rock known as the calciferous sandrock, which rests above the Potsdam sandstone. The southeastern part of the county is covered by the strata of slates and shales of the Hudson River group. Between these and the Lau- rentian rocks in the northern part of the county lie narrow strips of the Potsdam and calciferous sandstones and Trenton limestones. In the central and western part of the county the Drift period is also well represented. The sands and the clayhills of the river valley represent the Champlain and Terrace epochs. Geologists believe, and apparently prove, that the long narrow bed of Saratoga sands, running across the county from northeast to southwest, was the sand of the ocean's beach in the Post Tertiary period, when the salt waters of the ocean washed the foothills of the Adirondacks and covered the entire southern half of Saratoga county.
The greater part of Saratoga county is embraced within the Half Moon, Kayaderosseras or Queensborough, Clifton Park or Shannondhoi, Saratoga and Appel Patents. The Kayaderosseras Patent is the most extensive within the confines of the county. The boundaries were so loosely defined, however, that disputes arose between the proprietors of the Kayaderosseras on the one hand and of the Schenectady, Clifton Park and Half Moon Patents, and these disputes were not settled for more than a century, or until the close of the Revolutionary war.
6
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Kayaderosseras Patent proper lay partly in Warren county. Its ex- tent was very great, but uncertain. It was granted under the English Colonial Government November 2, 1708, to Nanning Hermanse, Rip Van Dam, Adrian Hoagland, John Tudor, Peter Fanconnier, John Latham, Samuel Broughton, Ann Bridges, Johannes Fisher, Major Bickley, Ixris (or Joris) Hoagland and John Stevens. Clifton Park Patent, the extent of which was uncertain, was granted September 23, 1708, to Nanning Hermanse and others, holders of the Shannondhoi1 Patent. Half Moon Patent, the extent of which was uncertain, like that of the Kayaderosseras Patent, on account of the long dispute among the proprietors of the four patents referred to in the foregoing, was granted October 13, 1665, to Petersen Philip Schuyler and others. Saratoga Patent,2 the extent of which was also uncertain, lay partly in Washington county, and was granted November 4, 1684, to Peter Schuyler and others.
Besides these were Glen's Purchase, consisting of about 45,000 acres, granted August 14, 1770, to John Glen and others; Hansen's 3 Patent of 2,000 acres, granted July 17, 1713, to Hendrick Hansen and others; Livingston's Patent of 4,000 acres, lying partly in Fulton county, granted November 8, 1760, to Philip Livingston and others; Nesti- gione 4 Patent, extent uncertain, granted April 22, 1708, to John Rosie and others; Sawyer's Patent, extent unknown, lying partly in Wash- ington county, granted October 29, 1708, to Isaac Sawyer; and Van Rensselaer Patent, 28, 964 acres, lying partly in Fulton county, granted October 4, 1774, to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer; Van Schaick Patent, granted May 31, 1687, to Anthony Van Schaick; Palmer's Purchase, lying principally in Warren and Washington counties; Dartmouth Pat- ent, partly in Warren county, granted October 4, 1774, to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer; and Northampton Patent, partly in Fulton county, six thousand acres, granted in October, 1741, to Jacob Mase and others.
The warrant for the Saratoga Patent read as follows:
WARRANT FOR SARATOGA PATENT.
By His Excellency, Edward, Viscount Cornbury, Captain-General and Gover- nor-in-Chief of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, and Territories depending on them in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same, etc., in coun- cil this 25th day of October, 1708.
1 The modern name is written Shenondehowa; also Shenendahora.
2 The Colonial records give the name usually as Saraghtoga.
3 Sometimes also written Hanson. 4 Niskayuna.
7
SARATOGA PATENT.
To Major Bickley, Esq., Attorney-General of the Province of New York:
You are hereby required and directed to prepare a draft of a patent of confirma- tion for Colonel Peter Schuyler, Robert Livingston, Esq., Dirck Wessels, Esq., Jan Jan Bleecker, Esq., Johannes Schuyler, Esq., and to Cornelius Van Dyck, deceased, for a certain tract of land situate and being to the northward of the city of Albany, on both sides of the Hudson river, formerly granted unto some of them and others, under and from whom the rest do at present hold and enjoy by patent from Colonel Tomas Dongan, sometime Governor-in-Chief of the province of New York, the limits and boundaries of which land are to be ascertained in the manner, that is to say: Beginning at the south side of the mouth of a certain creek on the west side of Hudson's river, commonly called by the Indians Tionoondehows, and by the Christ- ians Anthony's Kill, which is the uppermost bounds of the land formerly purchased by Goosie Gerritson and Philip Peterson Schuyler, and from thence descending westerly into the woods by the said creek, on the south side thereof, as it runs six English miles; and if the said creek do not stretch so far into the wood, then from the end thereof east by a straight line until it shall be six miles distant from the Hudson's river, upon a measured straight line; and from thence northerly by a line parallel to the course of Hudson's tiver, until it come opposite to and bear east from the south side from another creek's mouth on the east side of Hudson's river, called Tionoondehows, which upon Hudson's river is computed to be distant from the mouth of Tionoondehows aforesaid about twenty-two English miles, be it more or less, and from the left termination by a straight line to be drawn east to the north side of the mouth of said creek, Tionoondehows; and from thence continued east six miles into the woods on the east side of the Hudson's river, and from thence by a line southerly parallel to the course of said Hudson's river, and six miles distant from the same, so far southerly until it come opposite to and bear east six miles dis- tant from the north side of the mouth of Schardhook Kill, which is the boundary of Schardhook patent, late belonging to Henry Van Rensselaer, to hold it thence, in manner following: that is to say, for so much thereof as by the former patents had been divided for arable land to Peter Schuyler, lot No. 1, and one half the lot, No. 6, to and for the use of the said Peter Schuyler, and of his heirs and assigns forever, to Robert Livingston ; his lot, No. 5, and one half the lot No. 5 to and for the sole use to Dirck Wessels; his lot, No. 3, to and for the sole use to Jan Jans Bleecker; his lot, No. 2, to and for the sole use to Johannes; his lot, No. 4, to and for the sole use also to Cornelius Van Dyck, the grandchild and heir at law of the said Cornelius Van Dyck, deceased; the lot No. 7 in trust nevertheless, to and for the use and uses for which the farm is devised by the last will and testament of his grandfather, de- ceased; failing which use or uses, to the use of himself, and his heirs and assigns forever, and for so much as remains undivided according to the heir's use of, posi- tively, that is to say: to Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingston, to each of them three fourteenth parts; and to each of the others two fourteenth parts of the whole undivided land contained in the said patent, the farm being divided into fourteen equal parts, at and under the yearly quitrent of twenty bushels of winter wheat; and for your so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. CORNBURY. Dated as above.
Before the Crown would issue a patent for the lands included in the
8
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Patent of Kayaderosseras, at that time spelled "Cajaderossary," it re- quired the title of the native Indian proprietors to be extinguished by purchase. Lord Cornbury on the 22d of April, 1703, made an order in council permitting Sampson Shelton Broughton, Esquire, and Company to purchase the tract of land in question in order to its cultivation and improvement and to the granting of a patent for the same under the great seal of the Province of New York, provided the purchase should be made and returned into the secretary's office and the patent sued out within the space of one year next ensuing the date thereof. In pur- suance of this permission the purchase was made and a deed given on the 6th day of October, 1704. This deed was executed by Joseph, Henderk, Gideon and Amos, owners, proprietors and native Maquace1 Indians and sachems, in behalf of themselves and of all their nation, to Sampson Shelton Broughton, Esquire, Attorney General of the Prov- ince of New York, Peter Fanconnier, Esquire, Commissioner of the Customs, and Nanning Hermance Visher of the city of New York, mariner, in company, in consideration of sixty pounds current money of the Province, and sundry goods. The description of the lands granted by this deed differs greatly from that contained in the patent subsequently granted, in its language, but evidently comprehends the same tract. The deed is signed by the marks of the Indian sachems with their totems, which are extremely difficult to identify as anything "in the heavens above or the earth beneath or the waters under the earth."
The warrant for the Kayaderosseras Patent is as follows:
WARRANT FOR KAYADEROSSERAS.
By His Excellency, Edward, Viscount Cornbury, Captain-General and Gover- nor-in-Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Territories de- pending thereon in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, etc., in council, this 22d day of October, 1701.
To Major Bickley, Esq., Attorney-General of the Province of New York:
You are hereby required to prepare a draft of letters-patent for Naning Har- manse, Johannes Beekman, Rip Van Dam, 'Ann Bridges, Major Bickley, Peter Fanconnier, Adrian Hoghland, Johannes Fisher, John Tuder, [Tudor], Ixris Hogh- land, John Stevens, and John Latham, for all that tract of land situate, lying, and being in the county of Albany, called Kayaderossera, alias Queen's Borough, begin- ning at a place on Schencctady River, about three miles distant from the south- westerly corner of the bounds of Nestigion's, the said place being the southwesterly corner of the patent lately granted to Naning Harmanse, Peter Fanconnier, and
1 Mohawk.
9
KAYADEROSSERAS PATENT.
others; thence along the said Schenectady river westerly to the southeasterly corner of a patent lately granted to William Apple; thence along the easterly, northerly, and westerly line of said William Apple's patent down to the above said river; thence to the Schenectady bounds, or the southeasterly corner of said patent on said river, so along the easterly, northerly and westerly bounds thereof down to the said river again; thence along the said river up westerly to the southeasterly bounds of a tract of land lately granted to Ebenezer Willson and John Aboot, and so along the said patent round to the southeasterly corner thereof on said Schenectady river ; thence continuing to run westerly up along said Schenectady river to a place or hill called Iweatowando, being five miles distant, or thereabouts, from the said south- westerly corner of said Willson's and Aboot's patent; thence northerly to the north- westmost head of a creek called Kayadarossera, about fourteen miles,-more or less; thence eight miles more northerly ; thence easterly or northeasterly to the third falls on Albany river, about twenty miles,-more or less; thence along the said river down southerly to the northeasterly bounds of Saratoga; thence along Saratoga's northerly, westerly and southerly bounds on said river; thence to the northeasterly corner of Anthony Van Schaick's land, on said river, so northerly and westerly along said Van Schaick's patent to the northeast corner of the above said patent granted to Naning, Fanconnier and others; thence along the northerly and westerly bounds thereof, down to the above said river of Schenectady, being the place where it first begun. To hold to the said Naning Harmense, Johannes Beekman, Rip Van Dam, Ann Bridges, Major Bickley, Peter Fanconnier, Adrian Hoghland, Johannes Fisher, John Tuder, Joris Hoghland. John Stauen and John Latham, their heirs and assigns forever, at and under the yearly quitrent of four pounds, . . . and for so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant.
By order of his Excellency in council. CORNBURY.
Saratoga county contains an area of 455,57712 acres. It has twenty towns, named as follows: Ballston, Charlton, Clifton Park, Corinth, Day, Edinburgh, Galway, Greenfield, Hadley, Halfmoon, Malta, Mil- ton, Moreau, Northumberland, Providence, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Stillwater, Waterford and Wilton.
The origin of the word Saratoga is uncertain. The termination "oga," or "aga," is said to signify "place." The first part of the word has been held by some students of the Indian language to imply " hillside," and "place of salt springs " by others, " saragh " in some Indian dialects being the name for salt. Another meaning, not so gen- erally accepted, is " swift water," and is said to have been applied to the rapids in the river, in contradistinction to the " still water," just below.
The county seat is and always has been at or near Ballston Spa, in the town of Milton.1 The Champlain canal entends along the west
1 The first courthouse was located at a place now known as Courthouse Hill, two miles west of Ballston Spa, in the town of Milton. It was built in 1794.
10
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
side of the Hudson River from Waterford to the southern border of Northumberland, where it crosses the river into Washington county. The Erie canal enters the county through an aqueduct at Rexfords Flats in the town of Clifton Park, running nearly parallel with the Mohawk river, recrossing that stream into Albany county at the south- erly bend in the river on the southern border of Halfmoon. The rail- roads of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company pass through the county from Waterford to Moreau, by way of Mechanicville, Round Lake, Ballston Spa, Saratoga and Gansevoort, and from a point two miles west of Rexfords Flats to Ballston Spa, there connecting with the main line above mentioned. A branch of the Fitchburg railroad also enters the county in Stillwater, passing through that town, Saratoga and Saratoga Springs, its western terminus being in the village of Sar- atoga Springs. Another branch passes through Halfmoon and Clifton Park, crossing the Mohawk river in Schenectady county. The Adiron- dack railway runs in a northerly direction from Saratoga Springs. The Mount McGregor narrow-gauge railway runs northerly from the village of Saratoga Springs to Mount McGregor, located in the town of Moreau. The Albany, Vermont and Canada railroad crossed the Mohawk at Co- hoes, intersected the Rensselaer and Saratoga railroad1 at Saratoga Junction, and crossed the Hudson at Deepikill into Rensselaer county. This railroad was abandoned and its rails removed many years ago. There are also several electric railroads in the county.
At the time of the first division of Albany county and the formation of Tryon (Montgomery) and Charlotte (Washington) counties, on March 24, 1772, that part of Albany county now embraced within the con- fines of Saratoga county was divided into two districts called respect- ively the district of Saraghtoga and the district of Half Moon. The district of Half Moon embraced the territory included in the present towns of Halfmoon, Waterford and Clifton Park. The district of Saraghtoga embraced the remainder of the county, including all of the seventeen towns excepting the three contained in the district of Half Moon. April 1, 1775, the district of Saraghtoga was divided, part of it being named Ball's Town. The district of Ball's Town included the present towns of Ballston, Milton, Charlton, Galway, Providence, Ed- inburgh and a part of Greenfield. March 7, 1788, Ball's Town, Half Moon, Saraghtoga and Stillwater were organized as towns of Albany
1 Now that part of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's system extending from Wa- terford to Saratoga.
11
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNS.
county, Saratoga county not yet having been created. When the county was formed three years later these towns still remained. The towns in the county, twenty in number, are as follows:
Saratoga 1 was formed as a town March 7, 1788. Easton, a town of Washington county, was taken off in 1789; a part of Greenfield in 1793; Northumberland in 1798, a part of Malta in 1802 and Saratoga Springs in 1819.
Halfmoon 2 was formed as a town March 7, 1788. Its name was changed to Orange April 17, 1816, but the original name was restored January 16, 1820. Waterford was taken off in 1816 and Clifton Park in 1828.
Ballston 3 was formed as a town March 7, 1788. Charlton, Galway and Milton were taken off in 1792, and the line of Charlton was changed March 5, 1795.
Stillwater 4 was formed March 7, 1788. A part of Easton, in Wash- ington county, was taken off in 1789, and Malta in 1802.
Milton was formed from Ballston March 7, 1792. A part of Green- field was taken off in 1793.
Charlton was formed from Ballston March 17, 1792.
Galway ' was formed from Ballston March 7, 1792. Providence was taken off in 1796.
Greenfield was formed from Saratoga and Milton March 12, 1793. A part of Hadley was taken off in 1801.
Providence was formed from Galway February 5, 1796. Edinburgh was taken off in 1801.
Northumberland was formed from Saratoga March 16, 1798. A part of Hadley was taken off in 1801, Moreau in 1805, and Wilton in 1818.
Edinburgh was formed from Providence March 13, 1801, as North- field. Its name was changed April 6, 1808. A part of Day was taken off in 1819.
Hadley was formed from Greenfield and Northumberland February
1 Written "Saraghtoga " until about 1793. Upon the old map of the Kayaderosseras Patent this name is spelled "Seraghtogha," which some believe to be the original Indian name. The name was first applied to a settlement on the Hudson, in the vicinity of the present village of Schuylerville.
2 Originally written Half Moon. The town was named from the crescent shape of the land between the Hudson and the Mohawk.
3 Named from Rev. Eliphalet Ball, one of the first settlers.
Named from the " still water " in the Hudson, on the borders of the town,
" Named from the native place of the first Scotch settlers.
12
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
27, 1801. Its boundaries were amended February 28, 1808. Corinth was taken off in 1818, and a part of Day in 1819.
Malta was formed from Stillwater March 3, 1802. A part of Sara- toga was annexed March 28, 1805.
Moreau1 was taken from Northumberland March 28, 1805. A part was annexed to Corinth in 1848.
Waterford 2 was formed from Halfmoon April 17, 1816.
Corinth was formed from Hadley April 20, 1818. A part of Moreau was annexed January 28, 1848.
Wilton was formed from Northumberland April 20, 1818.
Saratoga Springs 3 was formed from Saratoga April 9, 1819.
Day was formed from Edinburgh and Hadley, as Concord, April 17, 1819. Its name was changed December 3, 1827.
Clifton Park was formed from Halfmoon March 3, 1828, as Clifton. Its name was changed March 31, 1829.
CHAPTER II.
The Indian Occupancy of the Territory now Known as Saratoga County-The Great Iroquois Confederacy and the Mohawks, Its Most Ferocious Nation-Their Wars Against Other Tribes-The Famous Hunting Grounds of the Mohawks, Sa- ragh to-ga and Kay-ad-ros-se ra-Sale of Both Properties to the White Men.
The territory embraced within the limits of the county of Saratoga was once the habitat of the Mohawk Indians, the most ferocious of the Iroquois tribes known as the Five Nations of New York. The warriors of this great Indian republic-the most powerful confederation of In- dian tribes in America-presented the Indian character in its most fa- vorable aspect. They were brave, patriotic and eloquent. They lived, for the most part, in villages in which their local laws were closely observed, and they were more favorably disposed toward useful indus-
1 Named from Marshal Moreau, the great French warrior, then a resident of New Jersey.
2 The Indians called the country around the mouth of the Mohawk "Nach-te-nack." This town was formerly known as Half Moon Point, and the semi-circular tract between the Hudson and the Mohawk was called Half Moon. The present name of the town originated from the fact that at the village of Waterford a ford crossed to Haver Island, in Albany county.
6 Named from the mineral springs located in the town.
13
THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY.
try than most Indian tribes, tilling the soil with a fair measure of suc- cess. They exhibited great fidelity as friends, especially until their peaceful life was interfered with by the encroachments of the white man; but on the other hand they were terrible as enemies, pursuing their foes with that relentless determination which made them so greatly feared by the white man when the latter had incurred their enmity.
The tribes of the Five Nations-commonly known as the Iroquois Indians-were named the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and Mohawks.1 The Tuscaroras, who inhabited a portion of Virginia and North Carolina, rose against the colonists in 1711, and after several years of warfare were nearly destroyed. The remainder subsequently joined the Iroquois, forming the sixth nation of that confederacy and amalgamating with the Oneidas in Central New York. After the ad- mission of the Tuscaroras this confederacy became known as the Six Nations. They occupied all Central New York, from Lake Erie to the Hudson river, in the order named, the Senecas on the western borders of the State and the Mohawks guarding the eastern limits of the con- federacy. The Iroquois called themselves the Ho-de-no-sau-nee,2 and their magnificent hunting ground they called Ho-de-no· sau-nee-ga. This hunting ground, which they steadfastly defended from all intrud- ers, embraced practically all of what is now New York State excepting the territory east of the Hudson river and a small section of the State along the southern boundary. This republic was divided among the several nations by well-defined boundary lines. The Mohawks and Oneidas jointly owned nearly all the territory of Northern New York, the eastern half of this section being the domain of the Mohawks. The boundary line between their properties began on the St. Lawrence river at the site of the present town of Waddington, ran south along the line between Lewis and Herkimer counties and crossed the Mohawk river at the site of Utica. The land east of the line, controlled by the Mohawks, was called by them Ga-ne-a ga o-no-ga. The northern part of the great wooded mountains was claimed not only by the Mohawks
1 The word "Mohawk " is derived from the Algonquin " Maqua," meaning "bears." The Hurons called them Agniehronnin. They were the first tribe of that region to obtain firearms. Their frontier position made them so conspicuous that their name was often used by the English and the New England tribes for the whole Iroquois Confederacy. Their Indian name "Ga-ne- a-ga-o-no," translated means, " People possessors of the flint."
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