USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 20
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
enforcement of unjust, unconstitutional, and tyrannical enactments, with the vain hope of reconciliation and revocation of the obnox- ious measures. Now, the colonies had by act of Parliament been declared to be in rebellion and out of the protection of the British crown ; and by the ministry, with the approval of Parliament, fleets and armies had been raised within the kingdom, and foreign troops hired to subjugate the provinces. It was therefore no longer a fight for the redress of grievances, but a contest, the result of which, baptized by the life-blood of thousands of patriots, must be liberty and independence or slavery.
On the 10th of May, 1776, the Continental Congress, in view of the action of the British ministry and Parliament toward the col- onies, and that " the whole force of the Kingdom aided by foreign mercenaries is to be exerted for the destruction of the good People of the Colonies, .
" declared it to be necessary "that the exercise of every kind of authority, under the said crown, should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted under the authority of the People of the Colonies . by resolution recommended the adoption by the several colonies of " such government, as shall in the opinion of the Representatives of the People, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in General."
And on the 7th day of June, 1776, certain resolutions were intro- duced into the Continental Congress. The first one was in the fol- lowing words : " Resolved that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection, between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved." Congress postponed the consideration of the resolution for three weeks, and directed the appointment of a committee " to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said resolution."
On the 2d day of July the aforesaid resolution was adopted, and on the 4th of July the Declaration of Independence was. adopted and directed to be promulgated.
The deputies to the New York Provincial Congress, which con- vened in May, 1776, had been elected in the month of April. The delegates from Ulster were Colonel Charles De Witt, Colonel Abra- ham Hasbrouck, Colonel Johannis Snyder, Matthew Cantine, Mat- thew Rae, Arthur Parks, Henry Wisner, Jr., and Samuel Brew- : ster. In that convention the resolutions of the Continental Con- gress on the subject of composing and erecting some independent form of government were brought up for consideration. The dele- gates were of opinion that they were not invested with sufficient authority for that purpose. They therefore, by resolution, referred
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
the question to the people to elect representatives with express authority to institute a new internal form of government and police for the colony suited to the existing emergency.
At the election held in Ulster County pursuant to such resolu- tion the delegates chosen were Charles De Witt, George Clinton, Matthew Cantine, Matthew Rae, Christopher Tappen, Henry Wis- ner, Jr., Arthur Parks, and Levi Pawling. On the 9th day of July, 1776, the- Provincial Congress met at White Plains. Imme- diately after organization, a letter dated July 2d, from the New York delegates to the Continental Congress, was laid before them asking instructions on the subject of independence, and another enclosing a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
On the same day the Provincial Congress " Resolved, unani- mously, That the reasons assigned by the Continental Congress, for declaring the United Colonies free and independent States, are cogent and conclusive ; and that while we lament the cruel neces- sity, which has rendered that measure unavoidable, we approve the same, and will at the risk of our lives and fortunes, join with the other Colonies in supporting it."
Then, after directing the publication of the declaration in the several districts of the several counties in the province with the resolutions of approval, further "Resolved that the delegates of this State, in Continental Congress, be and they are hereby au- thorized to consent to and adopt all such measures as they may deem conducive to the happiness and welfare of the United States of America."
Thus ends the record of British rule, and now we reach the bloody contest to achieve independence.
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CHAPTER XII.
A REVIEW OF SOME PURELY LOCAL MATTERS.
W E have now reached in the preceding general narrative the firm and determined rejection of the British yoke, and the hoisting of the flag of independence. This therefore appears to be an appropriate place to revert to early years and note some purely local matters which could not be readily introduced in the preceding chapters. As the special subject of this historical sketch formed a part, and at that early day a very important part, of the province, a general sketch of the legislative, political, and other action affecting the whole body politic, was considered necessary fully to elucidate and illustrate its history.
The preceding chapters have set forth the early declaration in the province of New York, of the great principle of " no taxation without representation," and its increasing strength in the public mind, as the years rolled on, until it proved the principal inciting cause, and one of the grand supporting principles which led this country to armed resistance against tyranny and oppression, and to the war for independence.
The narrative also shows, as contained in the instructions of the ministry to their governors, a sweeping clause in restraint of the printing-press. The administration of the Government exhib- ited no effort on its part toward the encouragement of that bul- wark of freedom. On the contrary, under one of the administra- tions, there was a bold attempt to muzzle it after its introduction. In the history of the struggle arising under that attempt, we per- ceive the freedom of the press maintained against all the power and strength of the administration, and the editor sustained in his exposure of official delinquencies. The counsel in his conduct of the defence, the jury in their verdict of not guilty, and the city authorities and the people in their wild joy and rejoicing over the acquittal of the prisoner, exhibited their abhorrence of the old feudal principle that " the greater the truth the greater the libel," and their enthusiastic sympathy with the opposite doctrine which now forms a part of the fundamental law of this State.
The settlers who were first drawn to this country after its dis- covery were traders enticed here by the prospect and love of barter
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
and gain. Their special attraction was to New Amsterdam and Fort Orange, by reason of the peculiar advantages of those locali- ties for trade and commerce. New Amsterdam with the outside world, and Fort Orange reaching its arms through the Mohawk Valley and onward to the interior could control the fur trade of a very extended region. At Esopus, although there were some ad- vantages for the fur trade, they were limited in their character, and much inferior to those at Fort Orange. The great and per- manent attractions at Esopus were the broad and extensive acres of prairie flats and rich alluvial soil extending for miles upon miles along the several streams concentrating at that point and ready for the husbandman's plough without the preparatory use of the woodman's axe.
Skirting the north bounds of the old village and present city of Kingston is the Esopus stream, which, rising many miles to the northwest of Kingston upon the water-shed of the Catskill Moun- tains, works its way down through valleys, ravines, and over rocks in a southerly course, until it reaches the lowland flats at Marbletown, then for ten miles or over passing through broad flats of rich alluvial soil to along and beyond Kingston as far as the present town of Saugerties, and then, after bending its course to the Hudson, and bounding over rocks and falls, it loses itself in the waters of that great river.
Then there is the Rondout, also taking its rise in the interior among the Catskills, and, after winding through valleys and clefts of rocks and bounding over precipices, it reaches the lowlands of Warwasing, and then, with rich borders of alluvial flats, it passes for decades of miles through the present towns of Warwasing, Rochester, and Marbletown, and thence forward until it forms a junction with the Walkill in the town of Rosendale. The Walkill, taking its rise in New Jersey, passes toward the north, and after crossing Orange County runs through the present towns of Sha- wangunk, Gardiner, New Paltz, and Rosendale, to its junction with the Rondout, leaving scores of miles of rich alluvial flats and bot- tom lands in its trail. The united waters of the two streams then rush to the eastward, and, after passing along and washing the docks on the south bounds of the city of Kingston, are lost in the " great river of the mountains."
The extensive flats at Esopus attracted a class of settlers very different from those at New Amsterdam and Fort Orange. And when the religious persecutions of the Old World drove many of . the worthy burghers of Holland and other countries of Europe to the New, husbandmen and farmers, men who looked to the prod- ucts of the mother earth for the reward of their labors, settled in "that very pleasant land." Such persons formed the general
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
character of the Esopus population. It is not surprising, therefore, that for scores of years, and, indeed, for nearly a century, it was the principal producing granary of the province. The even tenor of a farmer's life in time of peace has in it very little variety, and furnishes scarcely any material for the recording pen of the his- torian. The loss or abstraction of papers from the Ulster County clerk's office has added very much to the difficulty of procuring material to compile a complete local history.
The Ulster County Historical Society organized in the year 1859, for, among other purposes, the collection of " papers relative to the history of the original and present county of Ulster," drew at the time to its archives many valuable historical documents. Their executive committee also, with the approval of the super-' visors, and at the expense of the county, caused the papers and files in the county clerk's office to be overhauled, and the loose documents and papers of an historical character arranged, in- dexed, and securely bound in seven volumes. The volumes were then placed where they belonged in the clerk's office. That, to all human appearance at the time, wise and prudent proceeding has served only to facilitate their abstraction and total loss to the county and the public. The volumes have all disappeared, and are now nowhere to be found. The Historical Society existed only a few years. With the departure of Colonel Pratt and a few others of its original founders, it lost all vitality, and is counted now among the things that have been and are not. The archives of the society, also, have been so cared for, that all the historical papers of any value, except such as have been preserved by publi- cation, have disappeared, and are now scattered or destroyed, no one appears to know whither, when, or how.
Tradition, even, that great and prolific manufacturer of great men and wonderful deeds as belonging to past ages, has furnished very little if anything for that period. Under such circumstances the record of the proceedings of " The Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the town of Kingston," as far as they are accessible, will furnish a large portion of the data for this chapter. That corps of officials formed, in provincial days, the local government of the town, both civil and judicial. The recital of facts connected with or relating to their fostering care exercised in educational and religious matters, will be reserved for the chap- ters specially relating to the academy and the church.
The trustees, twelve in number, were elected annually ; they were empowered by their charter to ordain rules and regulations for the good order of the territory within their chartered limits, and to prescribe penalties for their violation, and make rules and regulations for their enforcement.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
In reference to their judicial power, the trustees were required, immediately after the annual election in the spring, to designate five of their number to sit and hold court every month, with petty, civil, and criminal jurisdiction. The civil jurisdiction was limited to five pounds. Their criminal jurisdiction was the same as given by law to commissioners or local magistrates of the several towns in the province. The presiding officer of the trustees was called the speaker ; the presiding officer of the magistrates was called the president.
The trustees continued in existence as a corporation until 1816, and upon their dissolution, all their then existing records were required to be filed in the county clerk's office. Of the minutes of the proceedings of the trustees, prior to November 4th, 1713, only about half a dozen detached leaves of different dates are to be found. The book containing the rules and regulations adopted by the trustees for the good order and government of the territory is also gone. That such a book once existed is evident from a refer- ence made to it in the minute book of the trustees at a date subse- quent to the Revolution.
The minute or record books of the local court, held under the charter, are also missing ; they are referred to in the minutes of the meeting of the trustees held December 7th, 1759, as being deposited with the treasurer. So that, with the exception of a few entries embraced in the trustee minutes of 1713-14, the entire minutes or records of the local court are gone.
The record of conveyances, and the books containing the treas- urer's accounts, are on deposit in the county clerk's office.
The names of the original trustees specified in the charter were, Garret Aertse, Jacob Aertson, Wilhelmus Demyer, Teunis Elisie, Willem Haines, Jan Wmns. Hogghten, Willem Legge, Mat- tyze Mattice, Benjamin Provoost, Jacob Ruttsen, Derck Schep- mous, and Wessell Ten Brooge.
One of the odd leaves saved from the general wreck of the old minutes contains a certificate of the result of the first election held under the patent. Whether any, or, if so, how much of a contest there was does not appear. The election took place on the first Tuesday of March, 1689, and the following burghers were elected, showing some changes :
TRUSTEES : Jacob Aertson, Garret Aertse, Wilhelmus Demyer, Tjerck Clauson De Witt, Jan Hooke, Mattyze Mattice, Jan Mat- · tice, Benjamin Provoost, Jacob Ruttsen, Derck Schepmous, Philip Schuyler, Wessell Ten Brooge.
CONSTABLES : Johannis Wynkoop, Jan Hortuyn, Willem Ganse.
ASSESSORS : Walrand Dumond, Tjerck Clase, Jan Willemse Hooghtyling.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
MAGISTRATES were designated as follows : Wilhelmus De Myer, President ; Derck Schepmous, Jacob Ruttsen, Philip Schuyler, Jan Hooke.
A full list of the trustees and magistrates, so far as known, and the presiding officers, will be given in the Appendix, also the supervisors up to 1788.
There are three ordinances entered on one of the odd leaves so singularly preserved, which from their date, November 21st, 1688, must have been among the first, if not the very first ones estab- lished. The following are copies. The first two would be as appropriate enactments for the present as they were for former times :
" It is enacted and ordained, that no manner of person or per- sons whatsoever shall at any time run races, or have any disorderly riding in the town of Kingstowne, upon the penalty of six shillings for each default, also them that drive rapid at unseasonable hours.
" It is further enacted, that no manner of person shall do any riding on the Sabbath day, upon the forfeiture of five shillings for each default.
"It is further enacted and ordered, that no manner of vessels shall be admitted to bring strangers from any other town or coun- ty, but shall give notice thereof to a constable where they are, and put in security for their maintenance ; for want thereof such man shall be bound to take care for himself of his maintenance."
The book of minutes of the trustees, containing a record of their proceedings from November, 1713, to the year 1736, is among the deposits in the archives of the New York Historical Society. As appears by an indorsement thereon in the handwriting of Herman M. Romeyn, formerly a resident of Kingston, they were presented by him to the New York Historical Society in 1847, and noted by him to be valuable as containing the only copy extant (in Dutch) of a letter from the Classis of Amsterdam to the Dutch Church in this country.
In that book the records of the local or town court are mixed in and inserted regularly with the trustee minutes for two or three years. After that there are no court entries. As those are, appar- ently, the only records of that court in existence, a full transcript of the record of proceedings in one of the suits as entered will be given. It may be of interest as exhibiting the manner in which objections made to interested parties sitting as judges were in those days, at times, disposed of. It will be recollected that five of the trustees constituted the town court :
" At a town court held at Kingston third day of November 1714 Present Maj. J Wynkoop, R Eltinge, H Pruyn and Jno Crooke
" Jno Crook plff Jno Wood deft.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
"The plff, by power of the Trustees, demands of the defendant twenty one bushels of wheat, for quit rent of the Patent of George Meales and Richard Hayes, for three years quit rent.
" The defendant appears and would not answer, but alleges that he could not expect Justice, by reason of his Judges were plaintiffs. The court ordered judgment for twenty one bushels of wheat and costs of suit."
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After the conclusion of peace with the Indians, subsequent to the second Esopus Indian War, many of them migrated Westward and mingled with other tribes. Those that remained were broken down in spirits, and submitted entirely to the white man's control. Some were even reduced to domestic servitude, and treated much the same as negro slaves. They were, at times, very annoying to' farmers by entering and encamping upon their land ; and although the natives were thus subdued in spirit, the citizens did not care unnecessarily to anger them, and submitted to these annoyances, rather than have difficulty. Tradition furnishes a story in regard to a circumstance of that nature which may serve to illustrate alike the submissiveness and credulity of the natives.
One or two families of Indians pitched their tents upon the farm of a man by the name of Schepmoes residing in the vicinity of the village. They annoyed him very much, and he determined to get rid of them. He knew that they were unable to pronounce his name -- the nearest they could approach it was Shopmoes. He went to them and told them that he was very subject to dreaming and wandering about in his sleep, and, when he did so, he was very destructive and would destroy anything within his reach. That it was then almost impossible to arouse him. The only thing that could awaken him was calling him by name. To carry out his plan, he provided himself with a raw-hide whip, common in those days, and about midnight started to their encamp- ment, routed them out, and cut and slashed in every direc- tion. The Indians rushed away crying Shopmoes, Shopmocs, but all to no purpose, until his work was completed, and they were clear of his premises. Afterward they complained bitterly to him. His retort was, " Why did you not call me by name, and wake me : I warned you what you should do." They replied, " We did ; we did, we called Shopmoes, Shopmoes." He replied, " No wonder you could not wake me. That is not my name ; it is Schepmoes." The Indians changed their quarters and he was not troubled with ·them any more.
The submissive and inoffensive demeanor of the Esopus Indians encouraged many of the inhabitants, as well as immi- grants, to extend their residences outside of the village, and build upon and occupy their farms, also to substitute a better class
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
of dwellings for their occupancy. The temporary wooden struc- tures now gave place rapidly to substantial dwellings of blue lime- stone, usually one story in height, with an attic under a very steep roof. The original walls of many of the dwellings built about that time are still standing, both in the old village section of Kingston, and also upon many farms in the vicinity. Many of those walls, even at this day in Kingston, after having encountered the conflagration of 1777, are still sound, and mechanics. in many cases, have found more difficulty in tearing down such walls on account of the superiority of the mortar than those of modern erection. Some of the ruins left after the burning of Kingston, standing naked and exposed to the elements for nearly threescore years, were taken down finally with great difficulty, the stones themselves breaking and giving way before the mortar ; and when, finally, they were brought down by scores of men pulling at the end of ropes fastened to the top of the walls, which had been previously undermined, the walls lay on the ground broken up in large chunks, which required the free use of the sledge-hammer to break in pieces. It has been mis- takenly asserted that those ruins were not rebuilt on account of the injuries caused to the walls by the fire. If that had been so they could not have stood as they did exposed to the weather for half a century, and then as they did tax the ingenuity of the own- ers to level them to the earth.
The early settlers when they procured their titles direct by pur- chase from the Indians, could only do so with the consent of the ruling powers. Such consent required a special application to the governor, and the consent, if given, was in writing. The following is a copy of a consent given by Governor Nanfan, in 1701 :
L.S.
"By the hono'ble John Nanfan Esq his Majes- ties Gov'r and Commander in Chief of the Province of New York and countries depending thereon in America gr'd in council.
" I do hereby give and grant full and free liberty leave and license unto Albert Rosa of the county of Ulster to purchase of and from the native Indians proprietors thereof a parcel of vacant land in the county of Ulster containing about three hundred acres called by the Indians by the name of Cheguagobonb lying to the northwest of Kingston upon a certain creek called Saw Kill west- erly above a certain sawmill of Wm Legg and near the high mountains in order that he may have a patent for the same under the broad seal of the Province provided the said purchase be made before one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the said county and returned in council within twelve months after the date hereof.
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HISTORY OF KINGSTON.
Given under my hand and seal at Fort Wm Henry in New York this twelfth day of March 1701 and the fourteenth year of the reighn of our Sovereign Lord William the third by the Grace of God of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland King defender of the faith etc JOHN NANFAN
" pr order of Council.
"N COSENS Ck Council"
After the purchase of the property was made before a justice of the peace, and a certificate thereof filed, the governor gave a con- firmatory deed or patent reserving an annual quit rent upon the farming lands, generally of a specified quantity of wheat to be delivered in New York at the Government house. The settlers in Esopus had generally taken sufficient land to supply their im- mediate wants for residence and cultivation. They were not cursed with any of the large manorial grants so injurious to the prosper- ity and settlement of a new country. The desire and policy of the inhabitants turned in an entirely different direction. Their bent was in the direction of freedom ; they wanted their work and their toil to enure to the benefit of themselves and their families, and not to the landlords. This led to the procurement of the patent hereinbefore referred to, and set forth in full in the Appendix, for the general benefit of the entire community.
The lands being thus placed in the hands of trustees, subject through the medium of annual elections to account to their ces- tui que trusts for the proper discharge of their duties, were, when disposed of, sold and conveyed in quantities, and on terms to suit the requirements and convenience of the purchaser, and with very few exceptions in such amounts only as were needed for agricul- tural or business purposes. From this sweeping clause must be excepted the very liberal grants of land made by them to the churches within their boundaries, and to Kingston Academy, which will be particularly noted elsewhere. The lands remaining unsold were used by the inhabitants, who were freeholders having the qualifications described in the grant, for the supply of fuel, fenc- ing material, and other common domestic purposes.
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