USA > New York > Greene County > Catskill > Reminiscences of Catskill : local sketches > Part 13
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ROGER'S Island has been made vocal with our rejoicings, and the Mayor of Herring-town has deigned to smile complacently, as he ten- dered to the Turtle Club the freedom of the city in a tin kettle. We have been cheered in our aquatic excursions by the beauty and fashion of Bompies' Hook, and the bald-headed eagle has screamed his greetings as we threaded the serpentine windings of the magnificent Ram's Horn.
The extremities of the Earth are laid under contribution to minister to our wants and wishes, and enjoyments. For us the purple fruit of the sunny vineyards of France is crushed ; for us the aromatic herb of Cuba and of "Old Kentuck" is grown and cured, and twisted, and cut ; for us the virgin clay of Ohio is dug from the bowels of the earthı, and fashioned into snow-white tubes, through which the perfumed eloud is spread upon the ambient air ; for us the rich beds of Weath- ersfield are despoiled of their pungent produce; for us the ripe juice of the blushing apple is converted into the pleasant acid ; for us the silver-coated herring is drawn from his deep blue home ---
"Down where the joyful sunbeams never fell, Where ocean's unrecorded monsters dwell,"
and for us the turtle is roused from his oozy couch on the shores of PEETCHIE'S Lake, on the banks of the Cauterskill, and in the far-off quagmires of KEMP's Fly, and the Great Embought.
To join in our festivities, Hatters have left the planking-kettle for the soup-kettle ; Thi- lors have forsaken herring-stitch for herring and onions ; Justices have abandoned litiga- tion, to do justice to the cookery of "CHARLES Fox"; and Surrogates have left the estates of the dead unadministered, to present their claims in the final distribution of the steaks
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LOCAL SKETCHES.
TURTLE CLUB.
All ranks and conditions of men have striven to pay honors to our association, and the Club has been the admiration as well of the upper- crust of society, as of the humble fisherman who plies his apostolic vocation on the "Sand- plauchy."
Surely, these manifestations are pleasant to our hearts, and soothing to our souls, as DAL- LEY's Magic Plaster to a scalded shin. Let us, then, strive to merit the good will of all men and women, and persevere in well-doing, until our Society shall occupy a niche in the Temple of Fame, far above the ancient and honorable fraternity of Free-masonry, the in- dependent order of Odd Fellows, or the Cal- athumpian Band.
Upon the return of each anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, may we be found foremost in doing honor to the day .-
Although other countries may have given birth to some of us; though one may have first seen the light in Scotia's flowery vales; though another may have had his nativity in the green island of the Shamrock; or a third in our mother land, "merry England," yet here may we meet in a common brotherhood. Here, under the folds of the star-studded banner, long and broad enough to cover and shelter the wanderer from every nation, and of every kindred and tongue, may we be found, with one voice and one heart, rejoicing in the re- turn of that day when Columbia assumed a name and a place among the nations of the earth ; and if we may not all be permitted to glory in the name of American citizens, we each and all have the high and proud privi- lege of exclaiming : "Thank Heaven, I, too, am a member of the CATSKILL TURTLE CLUB."
EXTRACTS FROM A CARRIER'S ADDRESS, To the Patrons of the Catskill Democrat, January 1st, 1847.
It is to be regretted that Mr. PINCKNEY has neglected to preserve any of the numerous pro- ductions of his versatile pen, which have been so widely scattered that we have been much disap- pointed in our efforts to procure many that we know are extant, and shall be compelled to con- clude our reproduction of his literary efforts with the following extracts. These are now republished for the double purpose of showing his easy pow- ers of versification, (though they are by no means his best) and to revive some good-natured local political allusions to men and events :
Father Time-that old fellow Who paints the leaves yellow, And turns our hair gray and our apple-jack mellow- Has brought to your door The News-boy once more, A boon from your bounty, kind friends, to implore ; To tender his thanks in a simple address, And pray that your shadows may never grow less.
'Tis the fashion, you all of you very well know, When the Carrier, on New Year's morn calls for his "dough," To treat you to one or two columns of rhyme- The custom's an old one, as ancient as Time, At least, I've no doubt that the thing has been done Ever since Anno Domini One ; So therefore must I Scratch my noddle and try, Though the last year has been most uncommonly dry.
After alluding, in a happy vein, to the exploits of Gens. TAYLOR and SCOTT, in Mexico, Mr. PINCKNEY wrote as follows of Gen. SCOTT's oe- cupation of the Mexicau capital :
But SOOTT, having orders, to Mexico MUST go, Though the road was a bloody one, through Churubusco ; He turned not aside till he came to the walls And the gates of the City, in sight of the "Halls," Of the splendor of which we have heard many rumors, The HOMESTEAD, 'tis said, of the Old Montezumas ; When, after short parley, he sat himself down, To rest for a while, in the heart of the town, Where our soldiers the streets with impunity roam, And follow the callings they followed at home. In the very best rooms of their very best houses, Some Yankee is found cutting jackets and trousers- In the midst of their boasted magnificent Plazas, May be seen the itinerant vendor of razors- In the shrine where the Mexican knelt to his saints, A down-Eastern merchant sells putty and paints;
And, perhaps, in the shade of a nunnery's cloisters, Some Shrewsbury fisherman opens his oysters. But we'll leave our brave fellows to rest on their honors, To tilt with the Dons, and make love to the Donnas, While we turn to affairs of our County and State, And matters of politics briefly relate :- By all of my readers 'twill be recollected
That a union of parties, long since, was effected, When the Whigs and the Barn-Burners formed an alliance, And the old-fashioned Democrats set at dehance, And they, doubtless, have very good cause to remember The havoc it worked us the first of November; But it seems that, last season, the Whigs waxing stout, The terms of the compact declined carrying out ; They thought they'd been choused of their share of the bounty, And believed that, alone, they could carry the County. On one thing, however, they stuck to their faith, And on THAT they declared they would "go it their death," Resolved that, united, by hook or by crook, At least they'd succeed in defeating "the Duke." And 'twas thought, for a time, that by selling and buying, And bargain and trick'ry, and pretty stiff lying, That they had their favorite scheme brought about, And each Barn-Burning jaw was agape f'or a shout. They firmly belleved they'd elected friend VAN, (By the bye, of the lot, he's perhaps the best man) And he lived in the hope, for some twenty-four hours, That he had attained jurisdiction and powers. But HOGEBOOM's prospects were brighter and stronger, And he clung to the hope of the ermine much longer- Yet, alas ! the bright blaze of his glory to quench, The Sullivan news brought him down from the bench, And he found that no "Powers" were attaching to HIM, Save the doubtful ATTACHMENT, perhaps, of 'Squire JIM. And thus the grand object for which they had fought, And bargained and cheated, resulted in nought ; The Democrats ALL wouldn't swallow their stuff, And (to use an expression quite common in bluff) The cards which they held hadn't quite enough spots on To win at the game which they played against WATSON.
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* * * * * Did my limits permit, it would please me full well, Much other political matter to tell :- In the race for Attorney, how RUFUS had THE leg, Of all his competitors, KING, MARKS and PELIG; And how, against one of thelr very best men, In ONE of the Districts we carried Judge FENN, And how, in the OTHER, they wouldn't have beat us, Had not the "Recorder" went in for IRETUS; How the Whigs, had it not been that voters they lacked in, Would have sent to the Senate Judge BROMMY VAN V-N, And, though it was stoutly insisted that PLATT Lived out of the County, shaved notes, and all that, The hard-fisted yeomanry knew what was meant By the humbugging story of "one-half per cent," And they thought that the tale was a little too rank, From a fellow concerned in the Greene County Bank, For the time was quite fresh in their memories, still, When a half per cent. took half the face of the bill.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
OF CATSKILL.
THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF CATSKILL. BY S. SHERWOOD DAY, ESQ.
The early settlement of Catskill, or of the region centering here-or we might speak more attractively, and say its antiquity-is now to claim our attention. This idea of antiquity may, perhaps, awaken undue expec- tation, as butting against the middle ages, or provoke a smile from some young Yankee "blood," who was born in the belief, and still retains it, that this Town and region first emerged from the chaotic mass of the Creation when his father, or grand-father, from Con- necticut, first settled here-say in 1760, or thereabouts.
Shades of the old Dutch burghers of 1660 ! This claim, so in conflict with records and traditions-with parchment title deeds, cover- ing Patents from the "River to the head waters of the Delaware"-can never be allowed. The ghosts of such venerable names as the DE WITTS, the LIVINGSTONS, the DUBOIS', and the VAN VECHTENS, would stalk into the arena of any discussion of this subject, and squelch at once such ignorant pretensions.
The fact is fully attested by documentary and traditional evidence that this unpretentious Town is by no means of modern date. Farback in the records of the country, during its prime- val history, when the savage lurked around these borders, and fished at these water-courses, she hung out her sign as CATSKILL-not "Kaaterskill, " but as we now spell it. It will now, no doubt, be expected of us, as the Law- yers say, to produce our authorities. This we shall briefly do.
Our main reliance is upon the Documentary History of the State of New York, a work published by State authority, from papers found in the State Archives, and transcribed from them, verbatim et literatim, just as they were originally written by the several authors of them. They are the proclamations, reports, and State papers of Governors, and sub-officers, relating to State and Provincial matters. We remark here, that Greene County, at that time, was embraced in and formed a part of Albany County, and was subject to her jurisdiction, and was suhse- quently, in 1800, carved out of Albany and Ulster. The first mention of Catskill by name, spelling it as we do, is found in the record of a meeting, a notice of which is as follows :
"Concil held at Fort James, (Albany, ) ffriday, the ninth of Sept., 1687. Prest His Excy the Govr, &c.
"Information being given to his Excy and some of ye Board that ye french at Canada are providing fifteen hundred pairs of Snow Shews,
"Ordered, that ye Mayor and Magistrates of Al- bany send ordrs to the Five Nations to bring Down their Wives and children and old men, least ye ffrench come uppon them in the winter aud noue to stay in Castles but ye young men. That they who come be settled some at Cats kill, Livingstons land and along ye rivir where they can find con- veniency to be near us" &c.
The second record is as follows :
"At a meeting &c. Albany 22 ffeby. 1690
Present Pt. Schuyler, Mayor &c.
Resolved yt ye River Indians living at Beere Island and Catskill be Persuaded to goe all and live and Plant at Catskill, who will be ready ou all occasions to be employed as Skouts or oyrwise will much Conduce for ye Security of our nelgh- bors of ye County of Ulster by their continual hunting and Ranging ye woods," &c.
The third meeting took place five days afterward ; the record we subjoin :
"Albany ffeby 27, 1699
The Businesse being taken into Consideration Concerning sending agents to N. Yorke and New England to acquaint them of atfares here, and 10 Desyre assistance &c. Resolver that Rynier Barents with all convenient Speed goc to Sopns and there in our name request Capt. Gaston to goe to Boston &c To Procure some money and use all Pressures Immaginable yt Shippers may be Equip- ped to go to Canada and yt ye sd Person may be at Catskill on Monday night," &c.
Again : in instructions given at this meet- ing, they say :
"To persuade them to equip ships to invade Canada and to the end that the said journey may be most speedily prosecuted, he will please notify said agent from Esopus to be next Monday at Catskill with Capt. Gerritt Teunise where our agent shall be to proceed together by Tachknick to Hartford, conveying the horses over from Catskill," &c.
At the same meeting it is said :
"You are to goe with ye first Convenlency to Connecticut along with Capt. Gerritt Tennise and such person as ve Gents of ye County of Ulster shall appoint to join ye in this bu-lnesse and it no such Person come to Catskill as is appointed" &c.
Under date of 1720, we have a list of Free- holders of the City and County of Albany, which county then included Schenectady, Kinderhook, the Livingston Manor, Claver- ack, Coxhacky, Catskill, and other places. The number of Frecholders for Coxhacky and Catskill are 28, all of the Dutch stock, to wit :
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EARLY SETTLEMENT
OF CATSKILL.
Mindert Schnt, Wessel Tenbroek, Wm. Leffe- ¡ for a survey ; and that he explored the Creek, rese, Helm Janse, Samuel Van Vechten, Gerritt Van Bergen, Marte Van Bergen, Frank Salisbury, Jno. Brnuk, Minkas Van Schauk, Jolin Albertse, Arent Van Schauk, Michael Collier, Cornelius Van Woomer, Johannis Halenbeek, Casper Halenbeck, Jan Van Loan, Jno. Van Loan Jr., Abram Pro- vost, Jacob Halenbeck, Jno. Cosperse, Coonradt Hotten, Philip Coninc, Jno. Van Housen, Leonard Brunk, Peter Brunk, Isaae Spoor.
The Rev. CIAS. ROCKWELL, in his book recently published, entitled "Catskill Mount- ains," &c., says that DE VRIES, in sailing up the Hudson, April 27, 1640, came to Esopus, where a creck emptied, and the Indians had cleared some corn land. In the evening they reached "the Catskill," where there was some open land on which the Indians were planting corn. In another place he says :
"In a petition of the Catskill Indians to the Hon. JOHN NANFAN, Lieut .- Governor and Commander- in-Chief of New York in America, and Vice Ad- miral of the same, nnder date of July 18, 1701, they say, 'We are now two hundred fighting men, belonging to this Connty of Albany, from Catskill to Skachakoop, and hope to increase in a year's time to three hundred.' They also say that ninety years since, Christians (whites) eame among them and spoke of the peace that had ever been between the two races," &c.
This visit of the white men must have been about the year 1611, and may not have been more than a casual call-perhaps HUDSON's party.
Mr. ROCKWELL's book also gives a brief diary of events attending the exploration of the River by HUDSON. Under date of Sept. 15, 1609, we find :
"That as the morning was misty, they anchored near West Point. Running sixty miles up the River, HUDSON arrived, near evening, opposite the mountains which lie from the river side, and anchored near Catskill Landing, where he found a very loving people, and very old men.
"Sept. 19 .- HUDSON sailed 10 leagues further up, and anchored near where Albany now is. And that while HUDSON was on his return, and was anchored near where the city of Hudson now is, two canoes full of Indians came up from Catskill.
"Sept. 27 .- He ran down the River eighteen miles, sailing past the wigwams of the loving people' at Catskill, who were very sorrowful for his departure. The wigwams of these 'loving people' extended along the River, through Ulster and Greene counties to Knxakee, or Coxsackie, and were ealled Esopus Indians."
BANCROFT says HUDSON was ten days ex- ploring the River, and upon his return home described it, anticipating its future, as the most beautiful in the world.
We can imagine the veteran Navigator, as he came abreast of Catskill, to have been greatly impressed with its striking features, as a scene of great natural beauty ; and that, mooring his little barque by the side of Bom- pie's Hook, (now Catskill Point) he took time
running up to its navigable head, himself and crew mingling freely with the red-faces, bar- tering with them as they might, game and fish for bits of iron and beads. It must be remem- bered that at this time Bompie's Hook was a little island, covered with rich, fresh, glisten- ing verdure, and lay a sparkling gem in mid- river, having no artificial connection with the main-land, as now, to break the harmony of the waterview. Round and plump in form and bust, it was the embodiment of beauty, with the full breadth of the River sweeping its three sides, while the Catskill Creek came gliding by on the other. Just above, but on the opposite channel, was a sister island, nameless then, but now "Sand Plauchy ; " and farther up was "Rogers'" with "Little Creek" beautifully creeping around its rear. But, no doubt, the crowning object of interest, the chef d'ouvre of Nature, in this region, were the Catskill Mountains, -lying a little way Westward, piled up in grand sublimity against the sky, and beautifully outlining its horizon. Old as creation, there they stood, seemingly the great Presiding Deity of Nature, hereabouts, with a numerous progeny of lesser gods and goddesses scattered in wild disarray over the country, in every direction. Their matchless contour, their blending lights and shadows, their deep gorges and mural cliffs, now clad in blue and now in green, and again veiled in fleecy or dense clouds, now resting in all the placidity of nature, and again echo- ing from their deep gulfs the reverberations of the pending storm; these, with other mercu- rial changes to which they are subject, must have powerfully touched his fancy, or awoke his wonder.
It is a noticeable fact that this mountain region has a penchant for storms ; it seems to be Nature's battle-ground, where the at- mospheric forces meet to settle differences and adjust the equilibriums of their ill tempers. Storms get up and linger here, as if they had a Nature's welcome, and beat and belabor themselves against their rugged sides, until, exhausted, they sullenly retire, leaving the field as bloodless as when they came upon it. We have carefully studied these conflicts ; how life-like ! personating the movements of masses of men, marshaling for battle. The first indication, perhaps, that trouble is brew- ing, may be discovered in the sour and misty face of the venerable old chieftain, Black Head. A cloud is gathering around his brow, boding no good to his neighbors ; soon others, vapory, and hardly able to hold themselves together, are seen hovering about, like light troops of an army-now advancing, now set- tling down, and again lifting, and rapidly passing to new positions. In the distance
EARLY SETTLEMENT
OF CATSKILL.
are ponderous, compact bodies, moving for- | ing every object seen through it, and, in favor- ward with all the majesty of power, like heavy able states of the air, penciling it with delicate reserves of infantry and artillery ; they come sun-light, or streaking it like veined marble. boldly into the field, and take the center .- High Peak, Round Top, Black, Knuckle and Indian Heads are strategic points, and are heavily reinforced. Every recess, gorge and bluff is occupied. A mysterious but ominous quiet prevails. A movement is now seen upon one flank, and then upon another ; pre- sently the tempest, whose approach through the numerous defiles in the rear, had not been discovered, breaks upon the scene in inde- scribable fury, striking almost simultaneously the several peaks of which we have spoken; it rushes frantically down their deep ravines, and with fiery, surging gusts twisting and unearth- ing some of the noblest standard-bearers of the forest-followed, it may be, by a deluge of rain, gorging the many deep or shy rocky water-courses that seam the region in every direction.
The intonings of the pines and fir trees, the heavy and continued roar of the cascades, and brawlings of the brooks and streams-all pay tribute to the occasion. But the paroxysm is often of short duration. The loud thunder that shook these massive mountains to their foun- dations dies away in the distance-cloud after cloud, breaking into divisions, gently lift themselves and sail away, gradually melting in the presence of the sun, as if glad to be quit of such a scene; while others, majesti- cally rising to the summit, to lie there, as if to say "the field is ours, we leave it at our pleasure." The sun, ever emblematic of bless- ings, now sends in its gorgeous rays, and, as the scene unveils itself, reveals peace and beauty in every lineament and dimple of Dame Nature's face.
The appearance of these wild regions after a storm is not, to us, very attractive. Though they stand out in a bold and strong light, and are dressed in deepest green, yet they have a swept and garnished look, as if, after the lus- tration they have received, they need an entire change of apparel. They are stiff and prim, with all the atmospheric tissues drained off, leaving nothing behind but rigid bone and muscle. The coloring is too decided and uni- form, and is set on without a touch of genius. It is only after Nature has renewed her pro- cesses of thickening up the atmosphere, and hazing and subduing its glare, blending tint with color, that they realize their highest style of beauty ; then nothing can be more exqui- site. There lies, then, spread over them an ærial drapery of delicate texture, and of a peculiar grayish cast, producing a singularly beautiful atmospheric effect, vexingly mystify- | Peekskill, Fishkill-then to Kingston and
We think we have redeemed our purpose to establish the early settlement of the Catskill region. First, we have the discovery by HUDSON, in 1609, then of its visitation by DE VRIES, 1640, in which he speaks of it as "Catskill." Then comes its actual acquisition and possession, through grants and patents, as early as 1647, when fierce contests arose between various proprietors with respect to ownership, sharpened, no doubt, by the dis- covery of gold in the adjacent mountains .- Then we have the fact that members of the VAN VECHTEN family, now living in our midst, have knowledge that their great ancestor, DERRICK TEUNISSE, Or DIRCK TEUNIS VAN VECIITEN settled here in 1681, or 1682, upon the farm which has ever since, until recently, been in their possession.
And now we have to say that if Catskill, having an early start, has not kept pace with the "march of progress," it is owing to causes which we shall briefly state : The completion of the Erie Canal, about the year 1825, opened up an Empire of rich, cheap and accessible country, towards which emigration immedi- ately commenced to flow ; other stupendous works soon followed, penetrating North and West, through the then Territories, still cheap- ening lands, building up communities, and attracting to them the enterprising, and those in moderate circumstances, for the bettering of their condition. Every town upon the Hudson, as well as the entire East, felt the drain thus created, and measurably ceased to grow. But a compensating element was in due time introduced, to repair the waste in part, so far as the River towns were concerned. As the West grew, its abundant products sought as their chief market, New York City. This, in turn, was wonderfully developed; its growth being without a parallel. Prices of food, rents, and almost everything that entered into the expenses of living, were correspondingly increased. Its people soon found that they could carry on their business in the city, and at the same time provide a cheaper living for their families in the country. They at once spread out-going into Connecticut, and New Jersey, and by means of steamers to Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. But, upon the completion of the Hudson River Railroad, the tide became continuous from the city up the stream, filling the line of the road first to Hastings- thence to Yonkers, Tarrytown, Sing Sing,
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EARLY SETTLEMENT
OF CATSKILL.
Rhinebeck, and finally this ground-swell of New York touched Catskill. For the future, we may safely calculate that a certain class of its people will flow here, both for a transient and a permanent residence. The attractions of this region insure for it the attentions of all true lovers of nature. IRVING, COOPER, WILLIS, PARK BENJAMIN, BAYARD TAYLOR-and not the least, our own lamented COLE-have en- riched it, and themselves as well, in writing of it; speaking of it not as a land of dead levels, where the eye seeks in vain for boun- daries, and where the mind tires of monotony, but as one of endless dislocations : as if in Nature's crucible whole regions had been melted down and poured out over the land- scape, forming huge hillocks and mountains of rocks and earth; where the water-springs and brooks do not lie dead in slimy pools, but come gushing, bubbling, leaping from their lofty mountain sources down break-neck preci- pices, and over and around huge boulders, and through mossy glens that never saw the sun ; tearing their way along as if they were a power, as indeed they are, and as we happen to know, from some sad experiences.
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