USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 59
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determined, as the early minutes of Creek Monthly Meeting were pre- sumably burned, either in the house of Smith Upton or Shotwell Powell, clerks respectively of the Orthodox and Hicksite meetings. Crum Elbow Meeting in the town of Hyde Park was allowed in 1778 by Nine Partners Monthly Meeting and the Preparative Meeting established in 1797 by Creek Monthly Meeting.
Stanford Monthly Meeting was set off from Creek about 1800, with the Preparative Meetings of Stanford, in the present village of Stan- fordville, established in 1795, and Little Nine Partners established 1800, in the town of Washington. Northeast Preparative Meeting, in the town of Northeast, was established by Stanford Monthly Meet- ing in 1810, having been a meeting for worship since 1803.
Oswego Monthly Meeting was set off from Oblong in 1799 with the one Preparative Meeting of Oswego, above referred to. The Hicks- ite branch still maintains Oswego meeting near Moore's Mills, but the Orthodox laid down their meeting in 1861, and changed the name and place of their Monthly Meeting to Poughkeepsie. West Branch Pre- parative Meeting was established in 1800, a meeting for worship hav- ing been allowed in 1792 by Oblong Monthly Meeting, at Stephen Dean's in the Town of Freedom (now LaGrange). The Orthodox branch of this was laid down in 1828 and the Hicksite branch in 1849. Poughquaig Preparative Meeting, in the town of Beekman, was trans- ferred from Oblong to this Monthly Meeting in 1803. The Ortho- dox have had no meeting here since 1828, but the Hicksites main- tained one till 1874. Pleasant Valley Meeting, in the southeast corner of the town of that name, was allowed in 1802 and the Prepara- tive Meeting established in 1806. It was laid down by the Orthodox in 1828, and by the Hicksites in 1881. Poughkeepsie meeting was allowed in 1811 and the Preparative Meeting established in 1819. Meetings are still maintained by both branches. Beekman Meeting, in the town of that name, was allowed in 1803 at Samuel Dorland's, and the Preparative Meeting established in 1819. This was laid down in 1828 by the Hicksites, but the Orthodox, who retained the old house still standing at Arthursburg, maintained a meeting until re- cently. Of these meetings, Stanford Preparative Meeting was laid down in 1871 by the Hicksites, but a meeting is still maintained there by the Orthodox. Little Nine Partners was laid down in 1855 by the Hicksites, and Northeast laid down in 1828. They have also been laid down by the Orthodox.
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THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
A day school was maintained by Nine Partners Preparative Meet- ing from 1794 to 1809 or later.
Nine Partners Boarding School was established by the Yearly Meeting in 1795, at the Separation was retained by the Orthodox branch, and was discontinued by the Yearly Meeting in 1852. It was thereafter leased for a school till 1863, and sold in 1865. Oak- wood Seminary at Union Springs, Cayuga County, is the successor of this Boarding School.
In 1800 Stanford Quarterly Meeting was established, including the Monthly Meetings of Stanford and Creek in this county, and Hudson and Coeymans in Columbia and Albany Counties.
In the list of members of the Yearly Meeting made in 1828 by the Orthodox branch, and containing about 20,000 names, the Friends in this county were divided among the Preparative Meetings as to the Separation as follows:
ORTHODOX
HICKSITE
TOTAL
Oblong
25
95
120
Branch
15
35
50
Valley
1
58
59
Nine Partners
105
201
306
Ridge
9
42
51
Canaan
1
23
24
Oswego
26
59
85
Beekman
68
89
157
Poughkeepsie
84
258
342
Creek
88
168
256
Little Nine Partners
40
45
85
Crum Elbow
0
204
204
Stanford
63
186
249
Northeast
34
15
49
Totals
559
1478
2037
West Branch and Pleasant Valley Preparative Meetings do not appear in the above list and may have been included as part of Pough- keepsie and Beekman Preparative Meetings.
The Separation of 1828 was an unfortunate blunder, and of the meetings, which till then had been steadily increasing in number and members, few have recovered from the depressing effects of that bitter period.
JOHN COX, JR., 156 Fifth Ave., New York.
APPENDIX.
THE MILTON FERRY.
BY CAPTAIN C. M. WOOLSEY.
EDITOR'S NOTE .- C. M. Woolsey, Esq., who has recently published an excellent town history of Marlborough, Ulster County, has kindly contributed the following article on the Ferries which in former times were operated between Milton, Ulster County, and what was once known as Milton Ferry, in Dutchess County, near the Gill Mill and Barnegat.
The article is interesting, as well for the history of the old Ferries, as for its account of the one time importance of Barnegat, which at the present day has almost wholly ceased to exist, there being now but a single old house at the place where once was a busy little manufacturing hamlet.
The early history of this ferry is all tradition. About 1740, or a few years previous, there was a ferry established across the Hudson River from a point on the west side a quarter of a mile or more south of what is the present steamboat landing at Milton to some point at or near what is now the Gill place, or at what was Barnegat.
What kind of vessel was then used can not now be determined, but it is supposed to have been a row, or sail, boat of some kind. It was adequate to carry wagons, teams, cattle, etc.
The country that now comprises the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill, in Ulster County, and some lands on the south, was early settled by English people who had previously settled in what is now Westchester County and Long Island, and by children of such settlers.
After 1730 and up to Revolutionary times, large numbers of settlers poured into this part of the county. They brought their families, teams, cattle and all their worldly goods with them. They crossed from the east side to the west side of the river by means of this ferry. They also kept up intercourse for many years with those they had left behind. This, I think, is the reason the ferry was established so early. A means of crossing was needed, so they provided some rude vessel that would answer the purpose.
660
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
After this early means of crossing was in operation, people natur- ally came here to use the ferry for miles up and down the river on either side. My great-great-grandfather, Richard Woolsey, was among these early settlers. He was born at Bedford, Westchester County, in 1697, came here when a young man and purchased an original patent of land, granted by Queen Anne, of many hundred acres lying adjoining this ferry on the south, parts of which lands are now owned by me. He and his descendants left numerous traditions about this ferry-boat. It was in use, and used by Richard Woolsey up to the time of his death in 1777; and at that time lime was burned at Barnegat and brought over by this ferry.
Nicholas Hallock, the oldest man in the town of Marlborough, says he well remembers, when a child, hearing his great uncle, Edward Hallock, and his grandfather Hull tell about using this ferry, and how it was built, the way it was entered, etc.
I can not find any charter for it, or who was the first owner. In our ancient records of road districts for the year 1779, I find as follows: "Nathaniel Harker's District No. 3. Beginning at Major DuBois's north line runs to Zadock Lewis's house at the cross road leading to the ferry." And also, "William Woolsey's District No. 5. Beginning at Lattemores ferry at the river, south of Jeremiah Bea- gle's in Latting Town." Benoni Lattemore owned the ferry at this time and had been the owner for some years previous. Afterwards and some time prior to 1789 Elijah Lewis owned it. He had a dock and also carried on business there. It was claimed at one time that Theopolis Anthony owned it, and before him one VanKeuren. These last two owners resided on the east side of the river.
On an ancient map dated 1797, made from the surveys and field book of Dr. Benjamin Eley by Henry Livingston, of Poughkeepsie, for Stephen Nottingham, Supervisor of the town of Marlborough, it is set down as Powell's dock and ferry.
Jacob and Thomas Powell, who had a store and tavern, ran this ferry, and also a line of sloops to New York City that carried wood, produce, etc., for the farmers for a wide extent of country, and brought back their supplies. The Powells were here several years. Thomas Powell afterward, about 1800, moved to Newburgh, became very successful and acquired a large fortune. The steamers Thomas Powell and Mary Powell were named after him and his wife. It has
661
APPENDIX.
been claimed that his first money was made here by the ferry and his other enterprises.
At a later date Benjamin Townsend ran this ferry and carried on business. I can find no mention of it after about 1810, and presume it was then discontinued, as none of the old inhabitants of this neigh- borhood can remember this original ferry, though they all have heard about it from their parents and grandparents.
A ferry had been established at Poughkeepsie about 1800, and by 1810 the Barnegat lime business commenced to decline and emigration from Westchester County and Long Island had ceased, so a great part of the usefulness of the ferry had ceased by 1810.
People journeyed by means of this ferry from Massachusetts and Connecticut to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the West. During the Revolution Continental soldiers crossed here to and from the eastern States ; specie, currency and provisions for the army were also carried. Washington with his guard is supposed to have crossed on one or more occasions.
All the description of the boat or vessel used as the ferry, that we have, is that it was a rude scow or barge of some kind with sails and oars which ran most of the time on signals. It could carry teams, cattle and passengers ; and it was said that at times horses were tied behind and swam over. It was said to have been the same kind of a boat as the boat then running at Troy. It must have been a strong boat, for it made trips in stormy weather, but not during the season when ice was in the river. The sides could be let down, and it was entered in this way. There is no tradition that there ever was an accident or loss of life by means of it.
To be sure there must have been different boats at different times as the old ones wore out, but the description of all was about the same. Very little, if any, shelter was provided and it was only tem- porary when it was. In heavy storms the vessel lay at its dock.
The landing on the east side of the river must have been in the vicinity of Barnegat, for the ferry carried quantities of lime and lime rock to this side. This was one of the supports of the ferry. The lime business at Barnegat was commenced soon after the close of the Revolution, and it is claimed lime was burned there during the war or even before, as people used lime from somewhere before that time all about here and the surrounding country.
662
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
At least soon after the war we had lime kilns on the west side, and they must have been started soon after those at Barnegat, as there has never been lime rocks about here, and the rock was brought over and burned here.
I find in our ancient records in the laying out of a road, as follows: "A Return of an Open Publick Road as Follow: We the Commissioners for the Town of Marlborough in the year 1790 in the Month of June. By a Petition from the Freeholders and Inhabitants of Said Town for a Publick Road or High- way from Latting Town to Hudson River have laid it out as follows: * *
* Said Road is to Extend four Rods Down the hill from the upper Side of the Road as it now Runs Down to Lewis Lime Kiln: the Said Road to go Either Side of Said Elijah Lewis Dwelling house whereever it Shall he thought most Con- venient for the good of the Public Down to Low Water Mark to Extend four Rods up and four Rods down the River from the Lime Kiln * * * "
The Powells also had lime kilns at Quimby and presumably others. The stones for these kilns came from Barnegat. By the map of Dr. Benjamin Eley and Henry Livingston above referred to, there are designated on the map twenty lime kilns at Barnegat. I can not find that a company owned them.
Barnegat at one time had a store, a school house and a church, or else preaching was held in the school house. A Methodist exhorter from here held services there.
In an ancient Gazetteer of the State, I find as follows: "Marl- borough, a small township in the southeast corner of Ulster County, on the west shore of the Hudson opposite Barnegat." There was maintained there at one time an efficient company of militia. There were some men from Marlborough belonging to it.
It was said that during navigation there was hardly a time that one or more sloops were not there loading lime; and at one time a line of sloops carried the lime rock from there to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to burn there. Tom Gill and his father burned lime there. One kiln was near their house.
There is a tradition here about the Gills. It is that when Vaughn went up the river, a corporal and two of the men went ashore in a row boat to burn the mill on the site of the present mill. The then owner begged them to spare the mill, and said to the corporal, whose name turned out to be Gill, that if he would not burn the mill he could come and marry his daughter after the war, at the same time pointing out
663
APPENDIX.
a pretty girl. The mill was spared and the corporal afterward re- turned, married the girl and became the owner of the property. It is claimed to this day that he was the father of Tom Gill.
There were two roads leading to Barnegat, one from a southerly direction and one from an easterly or northeasterly direction, which were used as such years before any roads about there were regularly laid out. When a child I heard old men about here telling of having worked at these kilns and crossing with the ferry when they were young. They received one dollar a day, which at that time was con- sidered princely pay, and such work was then sought for; farm labor- ers then receiving fifty cents or less a day.
Lime carried by this ferry was drawn and used not only in the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill, but in the towns of Paltz, Shawan- gunk and what is now Gardiner. Numerous houses all over these towns are still standing that were built with Barnegat lime. The tradition is that the lime was considered a very superior quality, but the rock was either worked out or a better article was found elsewhere, as for many years no lime has been produced there.
The roads on both sides of the river were used as highways at least fifty years before they were laid out and recorded by the highway commissioners. There is a tradition about another ferry which I cannot reconcile. It is that in 1777, when Gen. Vaughn's expedition went up the river, Samuel Hallock, the old Quaker minister, went out in a row boat to meet the fleet, and when taken on the flagship said to Vaughn that he was a non-combatant, a Quaker, and was opposed to the war, and at the same time pointed out to the General his ferry- boat along the shore, and asked that it be not burned. Vaughn gave orders not to disturb the Quaker or his boat, and the vessel was saved. But Hallock may have had the ferry, as this was in 1777, and we have seen that Lattimer had the ferry in 1779. It is possible that it may have been a boat used for some other purpose, but was always spoken of as a ferry-boat in the traditions. Hallock at this time owned Brushe's Landing, afterward Sands' Dock, and he most likely carried on business from there.
At the dock from which the ferry ran there was an ancient stone house, almost a fort, as the walls were so thick and strong. It was used for a store, tavern, freight house, etc. It was being built in 1777 when Vaughn went up, and was fired at. It was torn down when
664
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
the West Shore Railroad took the land. There was quite a history and many traditions about this old house. There had previously been a house on the same site and other buildings about there.
In March, 1849, another Milton ferry was established by Captain Sears. It ran from just above the Powell dock at Milton to the Gill dock. Sears ran the ferry for three years and then sold out to Jacob Handley, who conducted it until about 1862, when it was discontinued. The boat used had for its motive power four mules, who turned a tread-mill for the power. It ran regularly and was a great convenience to the entire neighborhood, and for miles back in the country on this side. It was the regular route to Milton Ferry, the station on the Hudson River road, and to Poughkeepsie. It also carried the mails. At one time the Gills, through whose lands the road leading from the ferry and the railroad station to the post road lead, attempted to close it, claiming it was a private road, but it was afterward arranged by them or the town authorities, so that it was continued as a public road.
After the horse-boat ferry was discontinued, Caleb Wood carried the mail and passengers to the Hudson River Railroad station by means of a large row boat that could carry a dozen or more passen- gers, and when he arrived on this side he carried the mails back and forth from the Milton postoffice. This continued up to the time when the West Shore Railroad was built, and during this time William Wood ran a large row boat from Milton to Poughkeepsie to carry passengers, freight, etc. This also ceased soon after the railroad was built.
It would appear that the ancient precinct of New Marlborough had means of crossing the Hudson River for fifty and perhaps sixty years before there was an established ferry at Poughkeepsie, and people from there came this roundabout way across this ferry to get to Paltz and the surrounding country in case they wanted to cross with a horse, cattle, etc .- in fact, to have all necessary intercourse that could not be had with a row boat or sloop.
665
APPENDIX.
THE CLINTON HOUSE IN THE REVOLUTION.
THE EVIDENCE AS TO WHERE GOV. CLINTON LIVED WHILE MAKING POUGHKEEPSIE HIS OFFICIAL RESIDENCE.
I have been asked to summarize again the evidence as to the house or houses Gov. George Clinton occupied during the Revolution, when his official residence was in Poughkeepsie, then practically the capital of the State. He lived here from the fall of 1777 until after the evacuation of New York. His wife was the sister of Dr. Peter Tap- pan, of Poughkeepsie, and he had other relatives and many friends here even before he came here to live. Gov. Clinton's home was in New Windsor, then in Ulster, now in Orange County. His removal to Poughkeepsie was made after the burning of Kingston, before the first session of the Legislature here. A number of well-to-do resi- dents of Poughkeepsie had adhered to the cause of the King and their houses and property had been either confiscated or temporarily taken possession of by the Revolutionary committee. Among these houses was that belonging to Bartholomew Crannell, located on the south side of Main street about opposite Smith. It is practically cer- tain that Gov. Clinton occupied this house during a part of his residence here because it is so marked on a little map (History of Poughkeepsie, p. 65) made in 1790, the authenticity of which is proved by deeds referring to it. The Clinton papers also show that the State spent money in repairing this house. It was destroyed, however, a long time ago, just when, nobody seems to know. It was probably a frame house and was very likely burned early in the 19th century.
Another house, which has been purchased by the State and is now known as the Governor Clinton House, has been pointed out for many years as Gov. Clinton's residence and, I believe, justly, though the evidence as to his occupancy of it is not contemporaneous or docu- mentary. The evidence tending to show that Clinton lived in this house, the Everitt House, has been very ably stated in a letter by Mr. Tristram Coffin, published in the Poughkeepsie Eagle, February 22, 1904. Mr. Coffin cites in his letter the passage from Smith's History of Dutchess County, published in 1877, page 342, as follows:
666
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
"Another historic building is the Clear Everitt house. Everitt was at one time sheriff of the county. He built the ancient stone house standing on Main street, a little east of Whitehouse's shoe factory, and now called the Washington Hotel. When the flying New York Legislature left Kingston and opened its sessions at the VanKleeck House, Gov. Clinton took up his residence in the Everitt man- sion from time to time during the war and afterwards. There Lafayette was entertained early in 1778 and there Gov. Clinton was visited by Gen. Washington, who attended a session of a Masonic Lodge in Poughkeepsie."
On page 345 of Smith's History is a quotation from the New York Gazette of July 4, 1781, referring to an alleged attempt to kidnap Gov. Clinton, in which this statement occurs:
"Mr. Clinton, the titular Governor, has fortified his hut against a sudden sur- prise and the rebel slaves of Poughkeepsie guard it every night."
Smith in this quotation inserted after the word "hut," in paren- theses, "the fine stone mansion of Clear Everitt." Mr. Coffin makes several other quotations from Smith and then proceeds to show that there was a strong tradition pointing to the occupancy of the Everitt mansion by Gov. Clinton before Smith's History was written. He shows, for instance, from letters that the Governor lived a little way out of town, that the house was sometimes called the "old fort," that the Governor was urged to keep a body guard because of its out-of- town location, which exposed him to possible attacks of kidnappers. Mr. Coffin traces the descent of the property from Clear Everitt to his son, Richard Everitt, and its sale by Peter Everitt, son of the latter, and James Emott, executors, to Edmund Morris in 1830. He quotes Mr. Morris's daughter, Mrs. Susan Bradley (eighty-eight years of age at the time Mr. Coffin published his letter), as saying that she recalled distinctly hearing the house spoken of when she first went to live there, at the age of fourteen, as having been Gov. Clinton's home at the time of the Revolution. Richard Everitt had then but recently died.
"It was only forty-seven years after the close of the war and people were still living all about who were grown men and women when it occurred. There can- not well be any more authentic tradition than that furnished by the memory of this venerable and highly respected woman."
Mr. Coffin interviewed Mrs. Jones, a sister of Mrs. Bradley, then eighty-four years of age, who stated that she had heard the old house
667
APPENDIX.
called the Heardquarters House in her girlhood, and he quotes from a statement by Miss Jackson, great-granddaughter of Richard Everitt, to the effect that she had often been told that "Governor Clinton had been entertained there." Mr. Coffin says that his own interest
"in this historic structure was first arrested by having it pointed out to him as the old Executive Mansion by a former member of the State Legislature, whose father had also been a member of that body early in the last century."
He also refers to a tradition that the house was built for use as a prison and says that an inspection of it will quickly dispel that delusion. It is entirely likely, however, that it was used as a prison, as headquarters and also as Gov. Clinton's residence.
Since Mr. Coffin's letter was written the only new evidence that has been discovered on the subject was definite evidence that Richard Everitt, who appears to have owned the house during the Revolution, was under indictment for giving aid and comfort to the enemy and was absent from the city. It does not seem to be quite so certain that Clear Everitt, Richard Everitt's father, was a Tory, though he was undoubtedly suspected of friendship for the British. It seems likely also that Richard Everitt and not Clear Everitt built the house, and it may be said to be certain that the house was seized by the Revolutionary committees and made use of as a residence for the lead- ing men who had to be housed in the little village, which during the sessions of the Legislature was overcrowded, and at times probably also was used as a prison. My own opinion that Gov. Clinton prob- ably occupied the house during some part of his residence here has been somewhat strengthened by a re-examination of the evidence and by the discovery of the record of Richard Everitt's indictment as a Tory.
EDMUND PLATT.
668
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
PERSONS REGISTERING BRAND MARKS IN POUGH- KEEPSIE PRECINCT.
By virtue of an act of General Assembly, passed November, 1741, brand marks of cattle were to be entered in the respective precincts in the county.
In Poughkeepsie precinct, as appears from the record book in the County Clerk's office, those who registered brand marks were as follows :
Abraham Lassing, April 4, 1749 Henry Livingston, July 1, 1749 Johannes Palmantier
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