USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
159
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
the negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has been hereto- fore used and accustomed. But from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interests of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British parliament, as are bona fide restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members ; excluding every idea of taxation, in- ternal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects of America without their consent."
After several other resolves, the Congress refer to several acts of Parliament as "infringements and violations of the rights of the Colonists, and that the repeal of them is essentially necessary in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and the American Colonies."
On the 20th of October, 1774, the Congress adopted a plan of association in which, after some recitals, it was stated that " various acts of Parliament have been passed for raising a revenue in America,-for depriving the American subjects in many instances of the constitutional right of trial by Jury,-exposing their lives to danger by directing a new and illegal trial beyond the seas, for crimes alleged to have been committed in America. And in the prosecution of the same system several late cruel and oppressive acts have been passed respecting the town of Boston and the Mas- sachusetts Bay, and also an act for extending the Province of Quebec, so as to border on the Western frontier of these Colonies, and establishing an arbitrary government therein.
" To obtain redress for these grievances, which threaten destruc- tion to the lives liberty, and property of his Majestys subjects in North America.
* *
*
* *
*
* *
* *%
"We do for ourselves and for the inhabitants of the several Colonies whom we represent, firmly agree and associate under the sacred ties of virtue Honour and Love of our country, as follows
"1. That from and after the first day of December next, we will not import into British America, from Great Britain or Ire- land, any Goods, Wares or Merchandise whatsoever, or from any other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandises as shall have been exported from Great Britain or Ireland ; nor will we, after that day, import any East India tea from any part of the world ; nor any Molasses, Syrups, Paneles, Coffee or Piment from the British Plantations or from Dominica, nor Wines from the Madeira, or the Western Islands ; nor foreign Indigo."
*
* *
* *
* *
* * *
"3 As a non consumptive agreement, strictly adhered to, will
160
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
be an effectual security for the observation of non importation, we as above solemnly agree and associate that from this day we will not purchase or use any tea imported on account of the East India Company, or any on which a duty has been or shall be paid ; and from and after the first day of March next, we will not purchase or use any East India Tea whatsoever."
The author inserts here out of its order a resolve of said Con- gress, which exhibits the sentiments of the colonies on the subject of slavery and the slave trade forced upon them by the governing countries.
"2. That we will neither import nor purchase, any slave im- ported, after the first day of December next ; after which time we will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be con- cerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it."
After passing several other resolutions for the purpose of giving full effect to the previous ones, the Congress adopted the following :
"11. That a committee be chosen, in every city county and town, by those who are qualified to vote for Representatives in the Legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to observe the conduct of all persons touching this association." Then after pro- viding that any person violating should be reported, and name pub- lished in the Gazette, declared "and thenceforth we will respec- tively break off all dealings with him or her."
" 14. And we do further agree and resolve, that we will have no trade, commerce, dealings or intercourse whatsoever with any Colony or Province in North America, which shall not accede to, or which shall hereafter violate this association, but will hold them as unworthy the rights of Freemen and as inimical to the liberties of this country.
"And we do solemnly bind ourselves and our constituents under the ties aforesaid, until such parts of the several acts of Parliament (specifically naming all the obnoxious acts) are re- pealed."
At the end of these resolves and declarations follow the signa- tures of all the delegates.
The Congress also adopted and issued lengthy addresses to the people of Great Britain, to the king, and to the colonial residents, as well as others. In the address to the people of Great Britain, is this significant passage :
" But if you are determined that your ministers shall wantonly sport with the rights of mankind ; if neither the voice of Justice, the dictates of the law, the principles of the Constitution, or the suggestions of humanity, can restrain your hands from shedding human blood in such an impious cause, we must then tell you, that
161
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
we will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any ministry or nation in the world." *
There were no delegates from Georgia in attendance at that Congress. But the Georgia Provincial Congress, on the 6th day of July, 1775, unanimously
" Resolved 1. That this Province will adopt and carry into ex- ecution, all and singular the measures and recommendations of the late Continental Congress .. 2. In particular that we, in behalf of ourselves and our constituents, do adopt and approve of the Ameri- can declaration or bill of rights, published by the late Continental Congress, and also of their several resolves made in consequence of some infractions thereof." The resolves passed by them were six- teen in number, and sustain the Continental Congress in every particular.
Thus were all the colonies brought into line, and nobly did they afterward sustain one another in the then rapidly approach- ing conflict.
At a session of the Assembly held on the 26th day of January, 1775, Colonel Ten Broeck moved that the House take into consid- eration the proceedings of the Continental Congress held in the city of Philadelphia in the months of September and October, 1774. The Assembly, by a vote of 11 to 10, refused to consider it. This vote was, substantially, that the sense of the House should not be taken upon the measures of Congress.
A letter written by a New York gentleman to a resident of Bos- ton, dated January 27th, 1775, contains the following comment upon the preceding vote : " In short sir, no virtuous or spirited act could be expected from a house, which had by its votes, violated the right of election, suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, deprived the subject of his right of trial by Jury, and provided support six years for troops kept here for the express purpose of enslaving America. Although they are the legal they are not the true repre- sentatives of the People."
Such being the character of a majority of the New York As- sembly at that time, sycophants of royalty, and sympathizing with Lieutenant-Governor Colden in his Tory proclivities, as might have been expected, a resolution offered in that body on the 17th of Feb- ruary, 1775, approving the action of the New York delegates to the Continental Congress, was rejected by a vote of 16 to 9, and likewise a resolution for the appointment of delegates to another Continental Convention was, on the 23d of February, also rejected by a like vote. To the honor of Ulster County it can be said that
* These stirring words are understood to have been written by one of New York's favorite sons, John Jay.
11
L
162
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
it was not misrepresented in that Assembly ; its delegates, George Clinton and Charles De Witt, were numbered with that patriotic minority, and stood up firmly for the right.
By the action of the majority of the Assembly as above, the people were left to take the matter in their own hands, and so they did, determinedly and wisely, as will be noticed in the sequel.
The following extract from a letter dated March 13th, 1775, written in London to a gentleman in Philadelphia, shows the im- portance which was attached by the English ministry to the action of the New York Assembly, and the manœuvring for its control :
" The ministry are sensible of and declare the dangers and diffi- culties of their undertaking. But they are encouraged to the at- tempt by a firm persuasion of success in corrupting New York and intimidating New England.
* *
* *
"They have therefore despatched emissaries to exert every effort of corruption ; thus by bribery and places for individuals, endowments for the college, and the establishment of Royal docks arsenals etc in the city," they seek to accomplish their purpose.
163
CHAPTER XI.
FROM JANUARY, 1775, TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, JULY, 1776.
TOHN HOLT, in 1766, established the New York Journal or General Advertiser in the city of New York. In 1774 he dis- carded the king's arms from the head of his paper, and substituted an emblem and motto extremely appropriate for the then disjointed state of this country. It was a serpent cut in pieces, with the ex- pressive motto, " Unite or die." In 1775, after concerted action had been initiated in the colonies, another emblem, equally expres- sive, was substituted. The snake was united and coiled, with the tail in its mouth, forming a double ring. On the body of the snake, beginning at the head, were the following lines :
" United now, alive and free, Firm on this basis Liberty shall stand, And thus supported ever bless our land, Till time becomes eternity."
The first emblem most expressive of weakness, the second of strength.
After the British took possession of New York, Holt removed first to Fishkill, and subsequently to Kingston, and then continued the publication of his paper at that place, until driven away by the British incendiary torch. His paper was the first newspaper published in the county of Ulster. From Kingston he went to Poughkeepsie, and continued there until the conclusion of peace and evacuation of New York by the British, when he returned to . New York.
As will be noticed in this chapter, nearly the entire population of Kingston (and the same may be said of the whole county) entered determinedly and enthusiastically into the support of the action of the Continental and Provincial Congresses. Malcontents, indeed, existed, but they were in a small minority.
Meetings in support of the Congressional action were held in different sections of the county, of which a summary will be given. The following is a copy of the official record of the pro- ceedings of a joint meeting of the freeholders of several towns as specified :
164
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
At a meeting of a great number of the most respectable free- holders of the towns of Kingston, Hurley, Marbletown, Rochester, and New Paltz, held in the town of Hurley, Ulster County, N. Y., on Friday, the 6th day of January, 1775, Colonel Johannis Har- denbergh, Captain John Elmendorf, Adrian Wynkoop, Matthew Cantine, Johannis G. Hardenbergh, and Jacob Hasbrouck, Jr., were appointed a committee to draw resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, and reported the following :
" Resolved first that it is the opinion of this meeting, that we most heartily approve of the association, and acquiesce in all the other measures entered into by the late General Congress, and we will use every means in our power to render them effectual ; and that it be recommended to the several towns and Precincts within this county, to choose committees to see the same faithfully ob- served and carried into execution.
" A certain Pamphlet entitled 'Free thoughts on the Resolves of the Congress' etc under the signature of A. W. Farmer, dated November 16 1774, being produced and publickly read, it was,
" Resolved secondly, That it is replete with falsehoods, artfully calculated to impose upon the illiterate and unthinking ; to frus- trate the Resolves of Congress and to destroy that Union, so neces- sary for the preservation of our constitutional liberty : therefore
" Resolved, thirdly ; That the said pamphlet, in detestation and abhorrence of such infamous publications, be now burnt ; and that the authors, publishers, and circulators of such performances, be henceforth deemed the enemies of their country.
" Resolved fourthly that the chairman transmit copies of the above resolves to the committees of correspondence for the several towns and Precincts within this county.
" Which Resolves being read and unanimously approved, the above named Pamphlet was burnt accordingly."
Similar meetings were held, similar action taken and resolves passed in many of the other towns in the county, showing that the people were fully roused to their situation, and determined to re- sist the encroachments and demands of tyranny at any sacrifice.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Kingston, Ulster County, Oke Sudam, John Beekman, Johannis Perse, Johannes Slecht, Hendrick Schoonmaker, Christian Fiero, and Egbert Schoonmaker were appointed a committee of observation, agree- able to, and for the purpose mentioned in the eleventh article of the association of the Continental Congress. Johannes Slecht was subsequently appointed chairman.
On the 7th of April, 1775, that committee having been informed " that the merchants and venders of East India tea had entered into an association not to sell any East India Tea, and that if
165
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
any person or persons should be guilty of selling or vending any of that commodity, that they should be published in the publick newspapers as enemies to the liberties and privileges of American subjects ; which articles were signed by all the merchants and. skippers, who were possessed of any East India tea (Mr Jacobus Low excepted), who notwithstanding all the friendly admonitions and entreaties to the contrary, declared he had and would sell tea ; Upon which information this committee resolved to send for Mr Low, thinking that time and mature deliberation, together with their friendly advice, might be able to alter Mr Low's determina- tion ; but all in vain ; for he declared he was determined to sell tea as formerly he had done, and absolutely refused to comply with the articles agreed to by the other merchants and skippers in said town.
" We therefore, in faithfulness to the Trust reposed in us, and agreeable to the recommendation of the congress, do publish, and he, the said Jacobus Low is hereby published, as an enemy to the rights and liberties of America ; and we do hereby declare, that we will henceforth abstain from (and recommend it to others to abstain from) all kind of connections and commerce with him, until such time as a change in his conduct shall induce us to alter our determination.
"Signed by order of the committee. " JOHANNES SLECHT, Chairman."
On the 6th of June, 1775, Jacobus Low addressed the Kingston committee by letter, as follows : " Whereas there is a dispute now subsisting between me and you, and considering that unanimity is necessary for the preservation of our rights and liberties at this critical juncture, the welfare of individuals, and for my own inter- est in particular, I do most earnestly request, if it be possible that we may come to an amicable reconciliation by the following con- cessions ;
" First that I am very sorry so great a misunderstanding has so long subsisted between us, respecting the difference in opinion of the resolves of the Continental Congress. Secondly I earnestly entreat, that the gentlemen of the committee will forgive me all the offences and transgressions, wherein I have offended and injured them in their respective reputations or characters, either in their publick or private capacities." .
The town committee, on the same day, held a meeting and " certified to all whom it may concern, that Mr Jacobus Low per- sonally appeared before us, and did make all such reasonable satis- faction (by publick concession) as was required relative to his former conduct, and we recommend to the publick that from hence-
166
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
forth he may again be received as a friend to the liberties and priv- ileges of British America."
The New York Provincial Assembly having rejected a motion made for the appointment of delegates to the Continental Congress, the people assumed and took the matter in their own hands. De- termined not to be controlled by the sycophants of royalty, the people of this province, by delegates, met in their respective pre- cincts, and appointed representatives to meet in convention in the city of New York, and appoint delegates to represent this province in the Continental Congress. At a convention of the several towns in Ulster County, Charles De Witt, George Clinton, and Levi Pawling were unanimously selected as delegates from Ulster, to represent its inhabitants in such provincial convention.
This action of the Ulster County Convention was formally pro- tested against by three Ulster County Tories, Cadwallader Colden. Jr., Peter Dubois, and Walter Dubois, in a lengthy document, in which, among other matters, they alleged " that the election of del- egates to meet, either in Provincial or Continental Congress, is un- warranted by law, unknown to the British Constitution, repugnant to the genius and spirit thereof, has a direct tendency to sap, undermine and destroy the most excellent English Constitution, and introduce a Republican government, widen the breach between this country and the parent government and bring on the country all the calamities of an unnatural civil war. They do therefore publickly protest against the same, and any Provincial Conventions that may meet in the city of New York or elsewhere in the Prov- ince ; and will not pay any obedience to their resolutions or man- dates ; but as faithful subjects, of a most excellent King, pay obedi- ence only to the good and wholesome laws of the land."
On the 10th day of April, 1775, occurred the memorable battle of Lexington, which was commenced by a regiment of British troops firing into a company of militia, who were exercising in military drill without any ammunition. The heroic English thus, with all the paraphernalia of war, murdered eight defenceless men and wounded others.
As expressed in a letter of that date from Boston : "This alarmed the country, so that it seemed as if men came down from the clouds," and the British troops were in turn attacked, de- feated, and driven to their boats by despised, undisciplined col- onists. It did not end there. The news of that battle was spread throughout the whole country by express riders travelling night and day, with relays of horses provided at every convenient distance.
The effect in New York is described by Lieutenant-Governor Colden, a British sympathizer, in his proclamation of the 1st of May, 1775, proroguing the Assembly, as follows :
-
167
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
" Astonished by accounts of acts of hostility, in the moment of the expectation of terms of reconciliation, and now filled with distrust, the Inhabitants of the city burst through all restraint on the arrival of the intelligence from Boston, and instantly emptied the vessels laden with provisions for that place, and then seized the city arms, and in the course of a few days distributed them among the multitude, formed themselves into companies, and trained openly on the streets ; increased the number and power of the committee before appointed, to execute the association of the Continental Congress ; convened themselves by beat of drum, for popular resolutions ; have taken the keys of the Custom House by military force ; shut up the port ; drawn a number of small can- non into the country ; called all parts of the Colony to a Provin- cial Convention ; chosen twenty delegates for this city ; formed an association now signing by all ranks, engaging submission to Com- mittees and Congresses, in firm union with the rest of the Con- tinent, and openly avow a resolution, not only to resist the acts of Parliament complained of as grievances, but to withhold succours of all kinds from the troops, and to repel every species of force, whenever it may be exerted, for enforcing the taxing claims of parliament at the risk of their lives and fortunes." .
The New York Provincial Convention met in the city of New York on the 20th day of April, 1775, and on the next day, by reso- lution, expressed their full approbation of the conduct of the dele- gates from the province of New York, who attended the preceding Continental Congress ; and, as a mark of the confidence reposed in them, unanimously re-elected all of them except two, who de- clined to serve, and added five more to their number, including George Clinton, of Ulster.
The Congress then adjourned without transacting any further business.
The New York committee at once, and on the 28th of April, 1775, issued a call for another Provincial Congress to meet on the 22d day of May. On the 11th day of May Ulster County responded to that call, and by committees for the several towns and precincts unanimously appointed Colonel Johannis Hardenbergh, Colonel James Clinton, Egbert Dumont, Dr. Charles Clinton, Christopher Tappen, John Nicholson, and Jacob Hoornbeek, deputies for said county to said Provincial Convention, to be held at the city of New York on the 22d day of May, or at such other time and place as may be agreed on, " in order to adopt, and endeavor to carry into execution, whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or Resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, for the purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts
168
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America on constitutional principles can be obtained, with such further power to declare the sense of this country, rela- tive to the grievances and oppression under which his majesty's American subjects now groan, and to concert such measures as may tend to the preservation of the rights and liberties of America."
The deputies were further directed, when met in convention, "to move that a day be set apart for public fasting and prayer, throughout the Colony, to implore the Divine aid in restoring a happy reconciliation between the mother country and her Ameri- can Colonies."
The Provincial Congress met on the 22d day of May, 1775, and on the 29th of May the Congress " Resolved That it be, and is hereby recommended to all the counties in this colony, (who have not al- ready done it), to appoint County Committees and also subcom- mittees for their respective townships, precincts and districts, without delay, in order to carry into execution the resolutions of the Continental, and this Provincial Congress.
" And that it is also recommended to every inhabitant of this colony, who has hitherto neglected to sign the General Association, to do it with all convenient speed. And for these purposes that the committees in the respective counties do tender the said associ- ation to every inhabitant within the several districts in each county. And that the said committees and persons re- spectively do return the said association, and the names of those who shall refuse or neglect to sign the same, to this Congress, by the fifteenth day of July next or sooner if possible."
The one for Ulster County was in the following form :
"A general association agreed to and subscribed by the free- holders and inhabitants of the county of Ulster and province of New York.
" Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depends, under God, on the firm union of its inhabitants, in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and con- fusion which attend a dissolution of the powers of Government ; we the Freemen, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the county of Ulster, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the ministry to raise a revenue in America and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, Do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves, and do associate under all the ties of Religion, Honour, and Love to our Country, to adopt, and endeavor to carry into execution, whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by the Provincial Congress, for the purpose of preserving our Consti-
169
HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
tution, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation be- tween Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles, can be obtained. And that we will, in all things, follow the advice of our respective Committees, respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of Peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and private property."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.